No Day but Today
by Mondie
Summary: Ch. 8: Now it's 1928, and Mush is about to learn an important lesson about his vampiric minions from a stranger. But the stranger may not be so unknown as Mush thinks...
1. 1

**A/N .:. Thanks to the following people… ****Shade of Temair… for being a vampire expert.**

**Misprint… for co-writing _Total Eclipse Of The Heart with _****Shade of Temair (hehe) which inspired me to read Anne Rice which inspired me to write this story.**

Again, to **Misprint because she has the cooliest lingo that I love to steal. ^_^**

Also, again to **Misprint and ****Shade of Temair, for first coming up with the idea of a vampire/newsie story. I bow to their supremacy. Ladies, you'll be coming in this story later. With any luck. But we know how I am about sticking to my plot lines…**

**Court Jester… for writing the fantabulous crossover of Rent/Newsies which inspired me to buy the Rent soundtrack and from which I unabashedly stole this title from.**

**kimimay85… Just cuz you're my percussion/senior/work sistah. And my twin too. And yes. Because I wanted to thank you anyhow. But no more Spotty Horror until YOU update! Bwahahaha. Evil laugh says Mondie. Now watch, you updated last night. Then I'll be in a fix, won't I?**

**Anne Rice… Okay, so she won't ever read this, but she deserves MAJOR props for the wonderfulness which IS _Interview With The Vampire and __The Vampire Lestat. And for writing a terrific screenplay for IWTV that includes YUMMY Brad Pittness. Whoooo. I'd marry him if he wasn't married to Jennifer Aniston. He looked good two nights ago on the Emmys._**

And lastly… to anyone who reads this. Yay for you! I heart you. Please review so I can heart you further. And give you shoutouts. Hoo ha!

NDBT Chapter 1

          Mush chattered happily with Kid Blink as the two walked slowly through the city. The selling had been terrific that day, and they'd both sold out within an hour. Now the morning stretched itself out, glorious and sunshine-filled, before them. It had rained the night before, and now the sunlight glinted in the puddles that formed in the cracks between the cobblestones. Carts rambled past every so often, and street sellers shouted their wares while the windows of nearby shops glistened with their own products. Delicious scents wafted from bakeries and restaurants all up and down the street, and the boys, with coins jangling in their pockets, looked anxiously forward to spending some on hot biscuits.

          A few of their friends, who'd also had magnificent selling mornings, were seated in a booth at Tibby's Restaurant. Kid Blink slid in next to Racetrack, and Mush pulled up a chair, sitting in it backwards, at the head of the table. Dutchy and Skittery were seated opposite Blink and Race. The three boys who'd been there for a while had empty plates and steaming hot mugs of coffee in front of them. Mush and Blink ordered their food from Wally-Frank, their favorite waiter.

          "Didja heah?" Dutchy asked, leaning forward conspiratorially. His light blond hair fell over the brim of his glasses into his eyes and, irritated, he jerked his head back so that it fell harmlessly to either side of the frames. "Spot rahpohted dat one a' 'is newsies was found dead day befoah yestahday. 'E had dis weihd wound on 'is neck. Like some'in had stabbed 'im wit' a nail a coupla times. It's da weihdest t'ing. Spot's convinced it was some'in from Harlem, an' 'e's so mad 'e's gonna send oveh like twenny a' 'is men ta soak 'em."

          "Dat's odd," Blink said, taking a deep sip from the coffee Wally-Frank had just brought over.

          "Yeah," the others agreed.

          Suddenly, a piercing noise permeated Mush's brain. It hurt him so much that he winced. _Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Please answer me. Please answer me… He closed his eyes in pain, but the voice only persisted. __You can hear me. Can't you hear me? You've got the gift… give in… give in… His chest began to heave heavily, and his brain felt as if it would burst from the high pitch of the voice. __Please, Noah… please, answer me… His mind reeled at the fact that this voice, whatever it was, knew his name. And not his newsie name, either. __Help me, help me, help me… The noise was becoming even louder, even more intense. Mush covered his ears now and let out a howl. Then his body suddenly pitched backwards in a way that he himself couldn't have done. Since he'd put the chair backwards at the table, the back of it was facing forwards, and there was nothing to keep him sitting upright as his body, out of his control, fell backwards to the ground._

          But the voice was gone.

          The four boys in the booth stared at him, as did Wally-Frank, Mr. Tibby, and the other customers.

          "Wha' da HELL was dat?" Racetrack whispered, scratching his head.

          "I have no idea," answered Skittery, staring at Mush's still body.

          Blink got out of the booth and pulled Mush to his feet. Mush's eyes were now plastered open, and he was looking around wildly, trying to figure out where the voice had come from…

          And why he was the only one who had heard it…

          And how did the person know his name, anyhow?

          Blink paid for his and Mush's coffee, canceling their orders, and led Mush from the restaurant. The boys still at the table could hear Mush's feeble protests of "the voice".

          Race downed the rest of his coffee and stuck his cigar in the corner of his mouth. "Dat kid should take some medicine," he decided, sliding out of the booth and putting his cap on his head. "Da stress a' bein' a newsie is gettin' ta be too much fer 'im."

          Skittery let out a laugh. "Or maybe 'e's jus' seein' too many goils. I can't even stand ONE goil screamin' at me… imagine poor Mush, wit' 'is twenny-thousan' goilies."

          Race and Dutchy chortled appropriately, and the three left the restaurant too.

          That night, Mush was too shook up to go to sleep. Even though he hadn't heard the voice any more that day, he still felt overwhelmed by it. And though he'd been walking all day long, he suddenly felt the need to go walk some more. With Blink's help, he snuck out by way of the fire escape, telling Blink that he was leaving to go visit Novel, one of his many current girls.

          Instead, Mush took random turns he'd never taken before, yet he somehow seemed to know exactly where he was going. And as he reached a boulevard, he realized why.

          Standing in the moonlight was a beautiful girl. She had long auburn hair, which was loose and flying through the air. She had striking amethyst eyes, though he wasn't quite sure how he knew this from the distance he was away from her. Her body was thin and sleek, encased in a dark burgundy lacy gown, and her skin so porcelain white she seemed to glow. She was, in a word, enchanting. He drew closer to her without meaning to, just to make sure she wasn't a mirage, an image of his sleep-deprived mind.

          She laughed a little, and he could hear it throughout his whole skull. It was then that he realized she'd been sending him thoughts so obscurely he'd thought them his own. She had been the voice earlier, too. And she knew him well…

          She was even more breathtaking up close. He held out a hand, and touched her skin. It was as cool as a pane of glass, or mirror. Her light eyes held his gaze, and he couldn't have looked away if he tried. She ran her tongue over her pale, pale lips, and then leaned in to kiss his. He didn't know who she was, or what she wanted, but he gave in to the kiss, getting into it more and more until he was just kissing the air as she moved back from him. He opened his eyes and openly gazed at her. Her beauty… indescribable beauty.

          "Who are you?" he managed to whisper.

          She answered without opening her mouth. _Chalereux._

_          "Happiness." He translated the French word effortlessly, though he'd never spoken a word of French before in his life. He became confused, unsure of what were his thoughts and what she was projecting into his mind. She looked absolutely delighted though, and he forgot this as his main concern became maintaining her happiness._

          Chalereux took his hand in hers of glass and led him down the boulevard, pausing beneath a flowering tree. She looked up at it in wonder, and he followed suit. He didn't know how long they stood there, looking up, but suddenly she was kissing his throat.

          Mush sighed as she pushed him up against the tree, rolling his head to the side a little for her. Then there was a sharp pain, and yet there still was Chalereux. He wanted to rub at the spot to stop the pain, but didn't want to disturb her. She was so beautiful… Though the pain increased, he didn't cry out, knowing that Chalereux, at least, was happy for now.

          She seemed confused after a few seconds, and pulled away from him. Then she smiled. For the first time, she opened her mouth to talk to him, and he could see bright crimson shining on her teeth. "You _do have the gift, Noah." She sounded positively elated, and she took his hand and kissed it gingerly, then led him from the tree._

          Mush felt lightheaded, though he wasn't particularly sure why. It seemed no time passed at all as the pair stumbled through the streets, back to the lodging house.

          The next thing Mush knew, he was awakening in the morning.

          He wondered if he had dreamed it all. But she had been so real… his Chalereux. His Happiness.

          And his neck throbbed. Gingerly, he touched at the spot that hurt the most. Two little holes. _Nail holes… he thought ironically, remembering what Dutchy had said._

          He ignored the other boys' waking shouts and fell back to sleep. He was too exhausted to sell papers that day.

          But then again, that's what happens when someone drinks your blood.


	2. 2

Shoutouts…

_kimimay85_ ~ You really don't have to know much about vampires. Mush doesn't know anything about vampires either. ^_^ Chalereux explains a lot this chappy. Hoo ha!

_Hottie5Star_ ~ Thanks!!!!!!! I'm glad I gave you chills. Whoa, that sounded weird.

_Slick_ ~ Yeah, me, Mis and Shade… us crazy vampy chicks. Haha! Perhaps you SHOULD write a vampy/newsie story… God knows they're awesome and awesome fun to write! I can't wait to suck blood out of Mush's neck… **sigh**

_Sobe A Lizard_ ~ Thanks dearie! I wish I had no homework as well… I have a gov't test tomorrow that I **HAVE** to study for. Ugh. I'm such a procrastinator.

_Blinks-Tiger_ ~ Thanks!!!!!!!!! Love ya goilie!

_Shade the dorito stealing review whore who is too lazy to sign in_ ~ YAY FOR YOUR REVIEW! AND YAY EVEN MORE FOR DROPKICKING JAKE AND SNIPES! WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!

_Pegasus_ ~ Thanks!!! No, Mush isn't a vampy yet… it's coming though! HOO HA! I love this chappy! **Mondie grins**

_misprint_ ~ That was a wonderful review!!!! But, about the word "about"… LOL that was fun… anyhow, we say "abowt" too. LOL, I'm glad you had a conversation on the word about… sounds like something I'd do. I'm glad you caught Wally Frank being in the story! I was hoping someone besides myself would. I heart that guy. Yay for your wonderful review, again!

_The Omniscient Bookseller_ ~ You have just the awesomest name ever, in case you didn't know. Thanks! And Lion King Broadway version? WITH RACETRACK?!?! **Mondie has a conniption** I don't have that soundtrack, but Kimi does and we heart it. Haha. YAY MAX CASELLA!

_bittersweet_ ~ Thanks! I heart you dear.

_Megan_ ~ I know… cute little Mushy vampire… ohhhhhhhhhhhh he's gonna be seducing so many goils… INCLUDING MOI! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!

_Court Jester_ ~ Happy birthday way, way, way late! Did you get your Rent soundtrack? Kimi burned it from my CDs and we enjoy singing the songs at random times. Mushy IS adorable. I heart him. He's so wonderful.

Mondie stupidity: Of course, Chalereux doesn't actually mean "happiness". That is "bonheur". Chalereux actually means "warm-hearted". But for the sake of my story, and since Chalereux is a prettier name than Bonheur, I'm just gonna pretend that Chalereux DOES mean happiness. Besides, she won't be around for much longer. So it really doesn't matter. Just wanted to clarify!

NDBT Chapter 2

            Mush awoke with a start late the next afternoon. The bunkroom was empty, and it took a moment for him to realize the sun was boiling hot overhead and that he had overslept. This had never happened to him before, or any other newsie, for that matter, on account of Kloppman, yet he wasn't worried. He leapt from his bunk and landed with a thud on the wooden floor, littered with trash from untidy boys. Strutting casually, as if on parade for himself, he entered the washroom and headed straight for the unwashed, chipped, dingy mirror hanging from a nail on the far wall. He self-consciously patted at his frizzy curls, then flexed an arm for himself and laughed. Chalereux had thought he was beautiful the night before. Therefore, he now knew he must be.

            He knew he must see her, must visit her. The only problem was, he couldn't hear the inserted thoughts anymore. This thought caused him panic at first, then he settled down. He'd just have to go find her, that's all.

            But first, he realized, he was starving.

            He left the Lodging House, shouting a goodbye to Kloppman (who, incidentally, looked quite confused by his elation. Just earlier that morning, Mush had thrown a tantrum when Kloppman had tried to make him get up, kicking and screaming at anyone who came close to him, eventually scratching Boots so hard he drew blood. Mush of course remembered none of this, but it caused Kloppman great anxiety over his complete transformation). He headed jauntily down the street, whistling an adlib tune, his hands deep in his pockets. He turned corners and went down streets until reaching Sven's Palace, a new restaurant that Kid Blink had found the week before that gave discounts to the street kids of the city.

            Luckily, Kid Blink, Racetrack and Pie Eater were sitting inside, so Mush didn't have to sit alone. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he sat down next to Blink.

            "Heya, Mush," Race stated, smiling at his friend. "Feelin' betteh?"

            Mush stared at him, then decided that 'yes' was the easiest answer. "Shoah," he answered, though he had no idea what his friend was asking about, since he couldn't remember the morning's events. Then he grinned again. "Fellas, I'se met dis goil last night."

            Pie Eater chuckled. He had only immigrated to New York the year before from France, and his English still wasn't perfected. Self-conscious of his French and the accent when he did speak English, he generally kept to himself and usually only spoke to a few choice people who he felt comfortable around. Mush, Race, and Kid Blink were all some of those people. "Ah, Mush, you is always meeting za goils, non?"

            Kid Blink laughed too. "You'se right, Pie. It does seem dat's all Mush does besides sell papes."

            A waiter stopped, and Mush paused the conversation long enough to order. Then he continued, "But dis goil… ah, fellas, I t'ink she's an angel."

            Racetrack shook his head. "Mush, you'se said dat las' week about Clementine. 'Membeh?"

            "A course I'se remembeh, Kid. But Clementine's all 'in love' wit' Saga. An' anyhow, Chalereux est tres belle." Mush only realized once he'd finished speaking that he'd been talking in French.

            Kid Blink stared at him in surprise. "Wha' da hell did you jus' say?" he demanded.

            But Pie Eater had begun grinning. "Ah! Mush! C'est vrai, tout la filles francaises est tres, tres belle et magnifique, non?" Mush was astounded to find that he could translate it in his head: 'Ah! Mush! It's true, all the French girls are very, very beautiful and magnificent, no?'

            "Oui, oui!" Mush agreed.

            Kid Blink was shooting his eye from one face to the other. "When in hell didja loin French, Mush?" he asked suspiciously. Race looked just as confused.

            "Je ne sais pas," Mush answered. A panicked look took to his face. He wasn't sure how he was able to speak French, and why he couldn't even speak English anymore. Then it all made sense. "Chalereux!"

            "What?!" Kid Blink asked as Mush jumped from his seat and dashed for the door. "Wha' in Moses' name was dat, Pie?"

            Pie Eater only shrugged. Racetrack laughed a little to himself. "Don' woirry, Blink. It's Mush. Nobody eveh knows what in hell 'e's ramblin' about."

            Mush wandered through the city, his eyes open wide for a glimpse of the burgundy dress, the unruly hair, but to no avail. Sometime later, though, a flicker of hope: a faint calling of her thought-voice.

            Picking up on that, he suddenly knew where to go. To be more accurate, his feet knew where to go. They led him straight to a churchyard, set back from the streets quite a ways. There was a small plot of graves, and in the middle sat a little stone shack. Mush didn't know much about graveyards, but he knew that that was also a grave, a sort of house for a coffin. And this was where her thoughts were leading him.

            Terrified out of his wits, he walked slowly across the yard, staring up at the ramshackle church as he passed it. Was this considered blasphemy? He thought about turning and leaving, going to sell his papers, forgetting about Chalereux. But he couldn't. Against his will, almost, his hands went up and touched the rough wood of the heavy door guarding the stone structure. He pushed lightly, then noticed a lock on the door. When he touched it, however, it sprang open and he was able to push the door in.

            A lone wooden coffin stood in the center of the little room. There were shelves lining the far wall, and coffins were on those; yet they were all decayed to splinters. The rough wooden coffin seemed new, and was on a platform. The smell of death and decomposition hung heavily in the air, and Mush gagged, but pushed the door back closed behind him. The room fell to darkness, except the minimal light that shone between the cracks of the door. Then he moved to the regal coffin, exalted among its haggard others.

            He fingered the wood gently, then grasped the lid and pulled it upwards. He didn't know why he did any of this, but when it was done, he gasped in surprise. Though the light was limited, she seemed to shine against the dark cloth she was positioned on. Her hands lay folded upon her breast, her hair spread beneath her head, sprayed out in a wild fashion. Mush turned and stumbled blindly from her corpse. He ran into the wall and pressed himself against it, unable to look at her, but just as unable to get the image from his mind. _Dead…_

            He was unable to move.

            He didn't know how long he stood there, but after some time he realized that it had grown completely dark, and that no more light shone through the cracks. Then he heard a rustling behind him.

            He panicked. Shrieking, he ran for the door and, using his fingernails, tried vainly to get the door to swing back open. "Save me! Save me! God almigh'y, save me!" he yelled, hoping that since the church was so near, perhaps God really would hear him.

            "Noah, be still." A quiet voice calmly rang through the air.

            Mush whipped around. "Chalereux?" he asked, disbelieving.

            "Be quiet, my Noah. I have much to tell you. I am very pleased with you." Indeed, her voice was laced with euphoria.

            Mush faltered. "But… but you was dead!" he cried.

            He could sense movement, and then a hand on his shoulder. A hand of ice… he shivered involuntarily, then nodded. Chalereux put her hand up and the door swung open. The pair stumbled out into the night, illuminated by a bright moon.

            "But… but how?" Mush finally asked when they walked down the boulevard a few minutes later. "Why in dere? Why'd'ja sleep in a coffin? What da hell ARE you, Chalereux?"

            Chalereux smiled the infuriating smile she had, that warned you that she had a secret she'd never tell. "Let's sit down, Noah." They perched on abandoned chairs of the bootblacks, and Mush had to smile at how out of place Chalereux looked, sitting on a bootblack chair like a queen. "I am a vampire. Soon you shall be too. It is your destiny."

            Mush stared at her, sure he'd heard wrong. Chalereux misinterpreted his stare and continued on, "But you will not be a mere vampire, like I am. You are to be a supervampire, and as soon as you have claimed your queen, you will move on to be the king of the vampires. We have been waiting for you for centuries.

            "Most vampires are created in their late twenties, or early thirties. You, however, shall be made tonight, when you are just sixteen. So it is with supervampires; you already harbor so much wisdom within you at this age, there is no need to postpone it. Vampires can die with sunlight or by a stake through the heart, but supervampires can never die until they are overthrown by the next supervampire. When we are each created, we become aware of our one purpose. For a regular vampire, when the purpose is fulfilled, we die. But for supervampires, such as yourself, you only realize your full powers when your purpose is fulfilled. My purpose is to create you in your vampiric form."

            Mush finally broke in. "Does dat mean dat ta-night is…"

            Chalereux nodded. "Tonight is my last night. Don't look so distraught, I have been alive for four centuries, and now it is my time to leave and go meet my Master."

            Mush looked confused. "Do you mean dat you believe in Gawd? But ain't vampiahs evil creatchas?" '_And imaginary ones too…' he added to himself in his thoughts._

            "It's true, some of our kind are up to no good. But the same can be said for every species, every race on Earth. I choose to live my life piously, devoted to God. I believe that this is just an aspect of God's world. If I were able to go out in the sunshine, I would attend church, as I did when I was younger. As it is, I still go to nighttime masses every now and then. But there is another point: as I have told you, regular vampires must stay out of the sunshine. The same does not hold for you. Supervampires have such a longer life that they need less blood to sustain them, and can go for days or even weeks without feeding on humans. I believe that we are just another form of God's wondrous beauty, that he meant for us to be vampires when we were created."

            At that moment, a girl stumbled across the street, with blonde curls bouncing vigorously. She appeared drunk, and was giggling loudly. "CHALEREUX!" she screamed, her eyes opening wide with excitement. She grinned broadly and Mush was astounded to find that she had fangs emerging amongst her other teeth.

            "Ah, yes," Chalereux said, and looked slightly annoyed. "I forgot to mention minions. I knew that I was forgetting something… Every vampire gets to have one minion. The minion will always remain faithful to the vampire who created him, and can be killed by fire, sunlight, or when their master vampire dies. A supervampire may create as many as five minions, but I implore you to choose your minions wisely, Mush, or you may get stuck with a dull-witted girl for four centuries." She finally turned to the blonde vampire who stood beside her, her head tilted to one side. Chalereux sighed as she looked back at Mush. "People change when they become vampires. It brings out the best qualities of a person, as well as the worst qualities, in a formula never before seen. Kristin here used to be my best friend, and seemed quite sane. Now all she does is giggle…"

            Kristin, as if to prove the point, giggled.

            "Your minions will have to drink blood more than you, and they will have to sleep at night, since they will not be supervampires, but plain vampires. Yet before making another person a vampire, they will have to ask your permission. And they will not be able to create minions of their own.

            "You will make your minions by having them drink from the right side of your neck. When you want to create a vampire, not a minion but another vampire, have him drink from the left side of your neck. 'Only those who have become vampires from the left side of their maker's neck will be able to create those from the right side…' " Chalereux spitted off the last quote as if it had been said to her many times, and she sounded wary as she said it. Then she smiled. "Now, I will drain your blood from you, and you shall drink from me, and it will be done."

**And the evil author danced off with the purple poodles of doom, laughing merrily as everyone scowled that she left the chapter off at that exact point.**

**Bwahahaha.**


	3. 3

Shoutouts 

_Cards_ )( *Mush looks insulted* He's the one that bought me those purple poodles of doom, THANK YOU very much… HAHA! Thanks for the review!

_lange_ )( I heart vampies too! HOO HA! Thanks dearie! And I haven't seen you around lately—you still alive??

_Slick_ )( Oh yeah? Well … you … you … tu as un chat grand en ton pantalones! SO THERE! You have a big cat in your pants as well. Haha, in French one (aw… seems so long ago… wow! How time flies) my friend Jen would say "Mange mon pantalones!" )Eat my shorts(… sorry, just thought that was funny and had to share.

_kimimay85_ )( Hoo ha! I'm glad you're glad that PE is French. Heh. Oh, in this chappy, your name is Broadway. I didn't know what newsie name you wanted (I couldn't remember) and I know that you're studying for English right now (or you SHOULD BE—STUDY! LEARN THOSE MYTHOLOGICAL GODS AND GODDESSES! Heh.) or else I'd call you. But if you really hate it and want me to change it, just let me know and I'll re-upload this chappy with the changed name. ;D Thanks for the review kid!

_misprint_ )( Whoa, everyone's doing the hustle lately! LOL! Mushy in a kilt… mmm, good pictures. Not that I particularly LIKE guys in skirts or anything… **Mondie averts eyes** Uh… yeah. Anyhow. Yes, I like my weird "vampires can still believe in God" thingy too… I figured why not go ahead and make this story ALLLLL mine **Mondie huggles story and Mushy Darling in the kilt all at once** Kristin remains ditsy in this chappy too… until she's evaporated… AHHH! No wielding Davey's Knife Of Doom at me!!! Heh. Thanks for the awesomey review darlink!

_Hottie5Star_ )( Thanks! Ooooh, you better believe Mushy accepts his vampire fate… or else we wouldn't have much of a story. I've still gotta write until sometime after the year 2002. Yikes! LOL!

_rumor_ )( Supervampire is a term completely coined and thought up by moi… don't ask where it came from. French class has some weird brainstorming side effects. Basically, I just wanted to keep Mushy in the sunlight cuz he's so purty with the sun in his eyes… Okay, I'll shush now. Troop Beverly Hills! Kimi and I watched that the other day, actually. It was quite humorous… I enjoyed it, anyhow. I love the word minions too! Playing in coffins?? Or at least underneath them?? That is the oddest childhood game I've heard of… **Mondie shudders** I'm not a fan of the coffins. Neither is Mushy Darling. He's still gonna "sleep" (even though he doesn't need to) in the lodging house. HAHA!

_The Omniscient Bookseller_ )( Phew! Good thing you DIDN'T fall off! **Mondie hands Omni a seatbelt for the rest of the story** Hopefully we'll have some more turns that throw you off guard. Maybe. Prolly not. I think I'm a very transparent writer. Ah well. Why were there weird black birds in your backyard??? Sounds like something from an Alfred Hitchcock film… **ominous music** BTW, I think your name should REALLY by the "The Ominous Omniscient Bookseller". Just because I like the word ominous and it starts the same as "omniscient".

_Shade of Temair_ )( THANKS DOLL! I wrote you three emails today. Heh. Anyhow. Thanks for the darling review, and here's your more times a trillion. :D Oh yeah, and you show up in this chappy too. Don't ask… it'll get ironed out soon. :D :D :D

_Mega Pega-sus_ )( Peggy Sue! Thanks for the review! Where ya been, kid? Oh, I miss seein' ya up in the balcony… **Mondie waves to Mushy, who waves back from the balcony where he's been saving Peggy a seat** Haha, our band director last year was named Tony and we used to sing "Hey Tony! I like the things you do…" etc. to him. Yeah. That was a good story. Your Frosted Flakes comment made me think about that.

_Gemini Kelly_ )( Yeah, I'm with you! Isn't it nice when people who like MINIMAL French (like me) write stories using MINIMAL French (like last chappy) so that those of us who like MINIMAL French (like me) can read it? Hahaha! How's the job going??? You pop up in this chappy, but don't worry, you'll be in the twenties… YAY PLOT TURNS, this is gonna be GOOOOOD! WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

_Alison224_ )( Hey, thanks for all the reviews lately! I'll email you in a bit. :D Thanks for all the compliments, I'm blushing!!!!!!! LOLOLOL! You're wonderful.

Author's Note )( This chappy marks the entrance of Misprint, Gem, Shade, Kimi (as Broadway, which is a name subject to change… I'll let you know if it does), and myself (SELF-INSERTION! WHOO WHOO). Now, girlies who know where I'm taking this story, don't freak on me, cuz I'm still putting you where I said I would. I just came up with ANOTHER plot twist tonight in the bathtub. **YAY BATH AND BODY WORKS' WARM VANILLA SUGAR BATH BUBBLES BECAUSE THEY ARE BRAINSTORMING WORTHY!** And the other four girls belong to themselves, and I belong to me. And … uh … yeah. Thanks for all the reviews! You're too kind to me!

NDBT Chapter 3

            Mush stared with a horrid fascination at the gash which penetrated Chalereux's pale neck. She'd etched it herself, using her fingernails as a razor blade. The dark crimson liquid which elegantly spilled forth matched the color of her dress perfectly. It seemed a mockery.

            He felt so weak. But, he realized, not nearly as weak as she did. She was powerless now, and had to accept her fate. He felt so betraying that it should be at his hands.

            "Drink," Chalereux urged, and yet Mush still balked. Suppose he didn't drink… couldn't Chalereux then live?

            "Drink, drink, drink!" chanted Kristin. Her blonde hair flew in her face as she lifted up her arms to the moonlit night. She didn't seem to realize that when Mush drank Chalereux's blood, she would die—and so would Kristin. But then, Kristin wasn't the brightest of people, and she now began to sing a warbling, high-pitched song which seemed to Mush an ominous death sentence. "Oh, Mother Moon, bring me your riches," she sang.

            Mush lowered his mouth slowly to the wound in Chalereux's neck, and she sighed in relief. It was then that he realized how much the blood pouring out of her had harmed her. He tried to gather the blood gently, and was surprised that he didn't reject the metallic taste.

            "Bring me your coldness, your hunger, your strength!" sang Kristin. Mush began to drink more eagerly now, the blood losing the iron taste and becoming like nothing he'd ever drank before. It was delicious, it was satisfying, and his hunger only increased. He began to come unattached from Chalereux's mighty charm and trance.

            "Mother Moon, hold me, and in your sweet trenches," sang Kristin, and Mush noticed that as he felt himself grow stronger, the two girls began to shimmer, to begin to lose their solid edges. He still sucked at the wound, wrapping his arms around Chalereux's body and angling her so that he'd get as much blood as possible. She began to tremble, and vibrate.

            "Marry me to sadness, the hostility at great length!" Kristin finished at the same moment that Mush finished his feeding on Chalereux. She was dry of all blood. And the next thing he knew, he was alone. Neither Chalereux nor Kristin remained.

            Mush climbed to his feet, feeling dizzy and excited. Everything was different now. He could hear the leaves whispering to one another in the trees, hear the sadness in the way the wind swirled, lonesome, around everyone. Everything seemed bright as day. But perhaps the most exciting thing he found were the two jutting fangs. Perfectly small and inconspicuous yet—he slid his tongue against one and cut it—incredibly strong. Laughing inwardly, he let the blood fill his mouth before swallowing it down again.

            This was just another great adventure! But how alone he felt. He decided to allow himself one night and one day to experience vampirism by himself, then he'd create his minions. Delighted, he realized that by drinking the blood from Chalereux, he not only had his street wisdom, but all the wisdom learned by her, and the one who made her, and the vampire before him, and so on and so forth. His thoughts ricocheted through his brain, bouncing off one another. He grinned.

            He could get used to this.

            The Manhattan Lodging House for Newsgirls was unusually chaotic. The youngest girl, Mayhem, who was eight, dizzily spun in circles, her dirty arms flung out. Vanilla sang loudly while her best friend, Cornsilk, plunked out the melody on the broken guitar she cherished so much. Cougar and Seashell laughed and clapped along, and Chance, lounging on a bunk, shouted out lewd comments that she'd learned from the newsboys that afternoon. The other girls were dancing, lifting up their skirts dangerously high—past their knees—as if they were cabaret girls, or were animatedly telling gossip amongst themselves.

            Only five girls were restrained, and this was perhaps the most abnormal sight of all; this particular group contained the girls usually the wildest: Misprint, Shade, Gemini, Broadway, and Mondie. The girls were gathered on Gemini's bunk, their dirty and smudged faces calmly solemn. There were factors for each girl which suggested her projected beauty, but from living on the streets for most of their lives, the girls were all emaciated, with jutting cheekbones, and were all under five feet tall.

            "How much longa?" Mondie asked out of the corner of her mouth, her eyes widening as she sighed, impatient. Broadway, who alone saw the look of annoyance on her best friend's face, had to stifle her laughter.

            "I dunno," Gemini said, just as inconspicuously. Her nose had begun to itch.

            "Wha' do all a' dem talk abou' normally?" Broadway wondered, folding her hands in her lap.

            "I t'ink serious stuff. Like, d'ya t'ink dat dere's uddah lives aftah death an' stuff," Gemini answered.

            "I t'ink dere is," Shade said, eagerly putting in her two cents.

            "I'm agreein' witcha, Shade," agreed Broadway. "I mean, say I'se supposed ta marry Spot Conlon, an' dere is a fire, an' I'm keeled. I t'ink dat I'se'll get boin again so dat I kin marry 'im in me next life."

            The other four girls tried to stifle their giggles. Like there was any chance of any girl—least of all a Manhattan girl—stealing the heart of the impossible-to-impress Spot Conlon. And they would know, too—they'd tried to impress him many times, just to see if they could.

            The girls lapsed into silence again, slight fidgeting occurring here and there.

            "Dis is gettin' borin'," Mondie sighed.

            "How much longa kin dis go on?" Shade wondered optimistically, smiling without really smiling.

            Misprint pointedly raised her eyebrows. "Didja _not jus' heah Vanilla go inta da hunnerd-an'-twennieth verse a' dat song?"_

            The five sighed in unison. They were only remaining quiet because the other girls were being loud. When Broadway had suggested becoming as dull as the other girls usually were, it had seemed a brilliant game. Thirty-five minutes later, it had lost most of its novelty, and they all wanted to join in the unexpected frivolities. Unfortunately, the five happened to be as stubborn as is ever come by, and none would give up until the other group of girls became quiet.

            It was still fairly early in the evening, which was ultimately a female time to turn in; the boys' yells could still be heard from the street. The setting sun, still high in the sky, began to shine reds into the room.

            Appropriately enough, Pinks ran into the room through the same window as the rosy rays. She was breathless and seemed quite distraught. "Bean's been taken to da Refuge!" she squawked. "Nobody else knows but me, I was da on'y one who was dere – 'e shoved me a'hind a trash crate so's I wouldn' be caught too." She buried her face in her hands. "I couldn' beah ta tell da boys…"

            This was too much for Misprint to handle. Breaking her stony facade, she climbed hastily down from the bunk. "We'll tell 'em for ya, Pinks," she said eagerly. "Righ', goils?"

            "Oh, yeah," Shade said, wondering what Misprint was up to. The other four girls joined her on the floor and left courtesy of the fire escape, to escape the wrath of the matron, who was incredibly strict and didn't allow young ladies roaming the streets.

            Gemini was the last one to file out, and allowed herself a smirk as she passed the upset Pinks. "So wha' were ya doin' wit' Bean in an alley, anyway?" She quickly ducked out the window, Pinks' indignant squawks chasing her.

            "Ah mean, _really_," sighed Shade as the five strolled down the street, feeling incredibly free in the mist of the evening. "Who'd wanna be all oveh Bean? 'Is name is _Bean_! An' if dat ain' enough, 'e's all scrawny an' dat hair a' his is always messy…" Mondie and Broadway noticed that they'd already passed several newsboys, and yet Misprint wasn't making any motions to stop. They exchanged glances.

            " 'Ey," Misprint said, stopping dead in her tracks. The other four looked at her expectantly. "Wha' newsboy d'I look like?" she asked.

            Shade's hand flew to her mouth. "Ah, hell," she cursed. "Sorry, Mis. Ah didn' mean ta insultcha…"

            Misprint waved off the apology with the flick of her wrist. "Dat's not what I'se sayin', Shade. Remembeh how folks used ta ask if Bean an' I was bruddah an' sistah?" The girls nodded. It hadn't been that long ago. "Yeah, so I'se got an idea." Her eyes flickered with the intensity they often got, which meant there was great mischief about to happen.

            "Wha' is it, Mis?" Mondie asked, a grin flitting across her fact as she anticipated Misprint's next move.

            Misprint couldn't hide her grin. "We ain' gonna tell da newsboys dat Bean's in da Refuge. Ya got dat?" The girls nodded, still not quite catching on. "An' den I sneak in, steal some trousahs an' shoits an' stuff so I'se look like a boy, an' I be da foist goil ta _spen' da night in da boys' lodgin' house!"_

            The other four girls gaped at her. Sleeping in the _boys'_ lodging house? It was unheard of! It was insanity!

            …It was a perfect example of Misprint.

            "So I need ya's ta stan' guard fer me," she whispered. "I'se gonna sneak in t'rough da fire escape, an' hope ta _heaven_ dat dere's some extry clothes in dere fer me. Now c'mon!" She led the way through the twisting streets, and when they reached the lodging house, she scrambled up the fire escape. She gave a salute when she climbed through the window. The other four girls could do nothing but laugh, and say a short silent prayer for Misprint's safety.

            Because, let's face it, no girl wants to know what goes on in a boys' bunkroom.


	4. 4

**Shoutouts** )( Whoo whoo! Thanks everyone! AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And Mush is going insane because I gave him some crayons earlier, so please excuse his flightiness. He means the best.

**Misprint** )( Let me introduce you to something. This here is called **_updating_**. It's something we authors like to do. ::ahem:: UPDATE ECLIPSE/BLOODFLAME! Your mother works at the airport???? That is so fun! We have an airport here in VW… but eh… it's a crappy little local one for just people who like flying planes and such. To actually GO anywhere, ya have to drive to Ft. Wayne. You should have jumped onto the plane leaving for Noo Yawk Siddy. YAY FOR RON IN HARRY POTTER! I heart Rupert Grint in much-mush the same way I heart RRRRRRRRICO. It's not nice to make Mush make chicken noises, Misi. This year in French class, we had to like "update" the story of Tristan and Yseut and Shannon Manson became the "Poulet Magique d'Amour", who said "Bock! Bock! Mange moi!" It was good fun. YAY! Skitts did the hustle and Ron played the fiddle. You always leave the best reviews, Mis. Luffle you! **Mush wields crayons and writes "We [picture of a red heart] Misprint" on the walls**

**Alison224** )( Wow, thanks for the string of compliments! **Mondie blushes bright red and ducks behind Mushy, who waves crayons in a greeting**

**SparksdaNewsie** )( It's odd that you comment on pyrotechnics… erm… that's almost foreshadowing into this chappy. Weird. Thanks dearie! Luffle you!

**Hotshot** )( Insanity? Around Mis, Shade, and I? Whatever are you talking about? ;D LOL! Thanks for all the compliments and comments. :D :D :D Whoo whoo whoo whoo! Mushy Darling, give Hotshot a crayon for being nice. **Mushy shouts in horror and runs away, clutching his crayons** Er… sorry 'bout that. He's not so good with the sharing thing.

**The Omniscient Bookseller** )( Thanks Omni! I heart you muchly-mushly!!!!!!!! **Mondie takes a bow straight into Mushy Banana Boy who is clutching his crayons, and thus gets crayons poked into her rear end** OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Talk about getting it up the butt. **Mondie, Omni, and Mushy break into hysterical laughter**

**Slick** )( Thanks dearie!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D Poor Mis, she spends half of this chapter hiding out in the washroom… heh… ah, you'll see soon enough!

**Shade of Temair** )( Whoo whoo thanks Shaderina! ((I swear, I have more fun with your name than anyone else's) We're about to meet our immediate demise in this chapter. But we will return. Bwahaha… we will return. **Mondie cackles** *Mushy's eyes grow wide in terror and he throws green crayons at Mondie until she stops cackling because he is frightened of her when she turns insane*

**Hottie5Star** )( You wanna talk sexy? Oh, GOD, we haven't even STARTED getting to the good parts yet. We're talking Mush ripping off his shirt and strutting around in all his Godgiven loveliness in chapters to come. Ah, I love this story. Sexy blood-sucking and blood-giving god of the vampires… OH LORD artistic license is lovely! Thanks for the review! *Mush struts around, wielding yellow crayons that portray his sunny disposition as a sex god*

**rumor** )( I think German is a funny language. They spit a lot. **Mondie giggles and Mush scribbles on a picture with his crayons** I enjoyed the usage of the word "balk" as well. Sometimes my mind surprises me… I swear I'm like a walking thesaurus. It drives me absolutely INSANE when I know the word I want to use but can only think of simalies for it… that's why it takes me so long to write, I believe, because I spend the whole time trying to think of exactly what word I want and I won't settle for anything BUT that word. LOL. Okay, that was a stupid story. Ignore me. *Mush does, continuing to color* Thanks rumor dearie, I luffle you!

**kimimay85** )( LOLOL wonder what Regor's getting you for your 6th month??? Ooooh. Weirdness. Anyhow. We get to dance interpretively in this chapter. It's very nice. It made me happy. WHOO WHOO we're on break and we don't have to work on Sunday! Life's grand sometimes. How was closing last night after work was God-awful horrible and we ran out of spaghetti?? Luffle you! **Mush waves crayons in a farewell gesture**

No Day but Today Chapter 4

by Mondie

            Misprint giggled as she shuffled through the deserted bunkroom. She noticed a shirt lying, balled-up, on the floor. Picking it up, she realized with a smirk that it was Kid Blink's white shirt with the navy vertical stripes. She thrust her arm into the sleeves. The shirt, almost too small for its rightful owner, fell almost to her knees, and she impatiently shoved the gargantuan sleeves up to her elbow as she took to looking for extra trousers in the bedside tables' drawers. With no victory prize after searching every cabinet, she twisted around in place, looking suspiciously for the boys' hiding place. Tapping her chin with her index finger, she caught sight of the washroom. Smiling wisely, she crossed to the doorway. Gulping what was likely to be her last fresh breath, she plunged in.

            "Hey, Mush!" When Mush climbed up to the bunkroom that night, his eyes wide with the wonder of the world, he was immediately greeted by Kid Blink, who nearly killed him with the extent of his "friendly" punch on the arm. "Wheah was you taday? An' las' night?" Kid asked, his eyebrows furrowing. This always produced a comical effect; Blink's eyepatch always drooped a few centimeters when his forehead wrinkled, giving him the look of a lopsided pirate.

            Mush shrugged, but couldn't keep a telltale grin from crossing his face. "Out," he said mysteriously.

            Blink's face relaxed to its normal, easygoing stance. "Ah. You an' Novel, huh?" he kidded, elbowing Mush before leaping away. "Don' woirry, boys, 'e wasn' soaked by da Delanceys or nobody!"

            Racetrack was sitting on the wooden floor, dealing out a game of black jack for himself, Skittery, Pie Eater, and Bumlets, while two of the littlest newsies crowded behind him. He pulled his unlit cigar out of his mouth and let out a barking laugh. "Blink, nobody t'ought dat Mush was soaked but you. What ELSE would Mush do but run aroun' wit' a goil?" Everyone laughed, and Mush could only kick his feet in false complaint. He didn't mind being known as a skirt-chaser. It was actually a pretty good excuse for a lot of things.

            Such as a twenty-four hour absence in which he'd gotten used to his new vampiric senses.

            He surveyed the newsies gathered this evening, aware that he was doing so with an acute vision no one else possessed. His eyes darted to those he'd decided to make his minions. Kid Blink… Jack… Racetrack. After that, he'd have one more stop of the night. And then… Well, he wasn't particularly sure _what would happen after he made his minions, but he knew that whatever it was, they'd have one hell of a good time._

            His eyes darted to the side of the room, where one bunk looked… wrong. This confused him. He tried to remember whose bunk it was, and finally it came to him that it was Bean's, and thus he realized what was the matter with it: Bean was never a tidy newsie, and usually his bunk was piled high with treasures he'd found during the day while scrounging around in trash cans between newspaper editions. But tonight, not even the scruffy newsie was in sight.

            "'Ey," he shouted, his voice earsplittingly loud. Everyone turned in alarm. He lowered his voice, his cheeks a little red. He still had to get used to the new volume control of his voice. "Wheah's Bean?"

            Everyone else's eyes now swiveled to the bunk as well, and then dirty shoulders were shrugged and questioning looks took over the faces of the newsboys. "I dunno," Jack answered. "I haven' seen 'im all day."

            "I'se in heah," a small voice piped up, and, almost shuddering, the scroungy boy stepped from the washroom. In fact, he was shivering. Kid Blink immediately noticed his own shirt covering the boy's slight frame, and was about to protest, when Mush held up a warning hand.

            "Bean?" he said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. He knew right away that this wasn't Bean, although he did look startlingly similar. Both were too short and too scrawny to look their ages, and had the same disheveled hair peeking out from an immensely large bowler hat. Looking around quickly, he could see that no one else could see the difference between this intruder and the real boy. "Wha' is ya doin' in dere?"

            "I… I…" His voice seemed to fail him, and he gave another shudder before falling to his knees.

            "Bean!" nearly everyone yelled at once, jumping to their feet and rushing over to him. Up close, Mush could see that it most definitely wasn't Bean, but still, no one else seemed to be catching on.

            "I'se… I'se jus'…" The pretender coughed. "Da bulls…"

            "Did da bulls chase ya?" Kid Blink asked, a little more kindly.

            Bean nodded. "Yeah. I had ta slide down in da sewahs ta escape, an' den me clothes was all wet, an' dese was da on'y ones I could find in heah dat was dry…" He gestured to his outfit, but still seemed shaken.

            "Well, dat's a'right," Jack said, taking the boy's shoulder and leading him to his bunk. "Ya need ta loin not ta go in da sewahs, d'ough. 'Membeh? We alrea'y had dis convoisation las' month."

            "I know," Bean said ruefully, halting at the foot of his bunk. Mush noticed how exaggerated his swagger was, and this further led to his confusion. He also could tell by now that whoever this actor was, he was well-known in the parts. He just couldn't figure out who it was… but something about the eyes…

            "C'mon, it's time fer bed," Jack said disapprovingly, as though just realizing what hour it was. He hustled the younger newsies into bed, admonishing Racetrack, who tried to sneak in another quick round of black jack. The candles were blown out, and everyone raced to get in their bunks.

            Only two moved lethargically: Mush and Bean. Dark settled upon the bunkroom, yet Mush's eyes instantly readjusted to produce the same quality of light as in daytime. He watched Bean, still trying to find the identity of this intruder. He watched the way Bean tugged at the trousers as if not used to them, as if they were inhabiting his movements. Then came a moment of revelation, as Bean tugged off the large bowler cap covering his head… and a cascade of black hair fell down his back.

            Mush smiled to himself. _Misprint._

            "Golly, dat goil is insane," Mondie sang lightly, twirling in a circle in a way she'd seen some street dancers carrying on that afternoon. She threw back her head so that her long brown hair swished back and forth, and clapped her hands together.

            Broadway, dancing along, copied the move, then the two moved away from each other simultaneously, with fluid movements. "I know. I wondeh how she's doin'?" she wondered, twirling back toward Mondie, and the two clapped their hands to each other's.

            "Who knows," Gemini shrugged. "She's prob'ly seducin' all a' dem an' rippin' off deir clothes an' becomin' a common street whore." She burst into giggles, which Mondie, Broadway, and Shade all copied. The idea of Misprint as a street whore was undeniably hilarious.

            "But she hates da colah red," Shade said, tilting her head to the side. "How could she eveh get along wit' smeahin' it all oveh her cheeks?" This only made the girls laugh harder.

            "Hey, wheah's Mayhem?" Clementine asked, eager to change the subject to something much more becoming.

            "I dunno," Mondie answered, as she and Broadway fell onto a bunk, exhausted. "I hasn' seen 'er."

            "She wen' downstaihs ta get some moah candles," answered Shade, making a face at the needlepoint she was attempting to stitch. "Abou' a half houh ago. Mondie didn' see 'cause she was outside lookin' for a sight a' Mush."

            Mondie smiled and nodded, even though the statement had been intended to embarrass her. "Well, I'se didn' see 'im all day," she said unconvincingly. "I jus' wan'ed ta make shoah he was okay."

            Gemini snorted. "Yeah right, Mondie."

            Broadway chimed in, "You's jus' wan' 'im ta make a move on ya, Mondie, ya doity goil!"

            "Well, it ain't faih dat I's da on'y goil 'e neveh chases!" Mondie said, pouting. She threw her arms in the air. "I give 'im plenty a' opportunities, too! But 'e neveh notices me."

            At that moment, the unmistakenable sound of Mayhem's boots clomped up the stairs. She had tacks going through the thin soles of her shoes, to mimic the girls on the Vaudeville stages, and so it was obvious whenever she walked anywhere. She appeared in the doorway, smiling widely, her face lit up with the multitude of candles she held. "Heah we go!" she cheered.

            The girls stayed up for quite a bit longer, until Clementine screeched that it was undoubtedly time for bed. Then the girls obeyed, and blew out their new candles.

            Mayhem wasn't ready to sleep, and she lay on her bed with her candle alone lit. She held a newspaper, one she hadn't been able to sell that afternoon. She squinted at the fine print for a while, and then, with a sigh, decided to sleep as well. She wasn't a very quick reader, and though she didn't feel tired, she knew she needed her sleep. She blew out her candle quickly, then lay the newspaper on her bedside table and flopped over on her side to sleep. Despite her worries, she immediately succumbed to dreamland. 

            The newspaper, draped over the not-quite extinguished candle, began to smoke. While twenty girls slept soundly, a fire methodically began to awaken, and it licked hungrily at the wood of the room. While twenty girls slept soundly, flames began to burst out in different places. While twenty girls slept soundly, their cotton bedsheets began to get smudged with soot, before going up in flames as well.

            Mush first aroused Kid Blink from his deep sleep. "Huh? Wha?" Kid asked drowsily, staring at Mush. He spoke as though his tongue were too thick to reside in his mouth. "Whadd'ya doin', Mush? Isstime fer bed, go ta bed, we's gotta sleep… c'mon…" He was about to drop off again.

            Without giving it a second thought, Mush pulled his best friend, his comrade, his brother, toward him. Blink immediately became awake when he felt the punctures in his neck, and began hitting and pounding, trying to scream, trying to throw off his attacker. But Mush held fast to him, watching the color recede from his face as he became more and more dry. Blink's throat seemed to seize up so that he couldn't shout for help, and finally he lay still. Mush, remembering Chalereux's wisdom about having his minions drink from the right side of his throat, felt his right index finger's nail curve into a sharp tool, and he scratched ruggedly at his neck, then lifted Kid Blink's head up.

            It was painful; Mush couldn't deny it. And yet, as Kid Blink's drinking became more and more insistent, it was as though he was being pulled away to a dreamland… and suddenly, he was in a whole different time and place, and blissfully unaware of himself…

_            Mush beckoned to Her with a bit of a smile. Not even breaking the flow of Her elastic dance moves, She slid into place beside him. The music was far too loud to be excused by human ears, and yet every inhalation that passed through Her lips was even more painstakingly loud and echoed through the chamber of Mush's mind. With precision, he lightly kissed up Her arm amongst a trail of glitter and sweat. He ended at the start of Her neck, and She smiled at him. It was as if a celestial being had been plucked out from among the flowers for his enjoyment, and his enjoyment alone. He licked at his lips, salty and coarse, and then pulled Her body towards his. He could practically taste the purity in Her breath._

            With a cry, he pulled himself free of Kid Blink's grip, and looked about himself in shock. He wondered what had just happened. The images came back to him, of a wonderland filled with flashes of colors and swirling people, and of… Her. He was shocked when he thought of Her now, and only wondered that he hadn't been so concerned when with Her—for she had only been wearing a shirt held up with two thin straps, showing far too much of her arm and even her collarbones, and she had also been wearing _trousers, and her hair had been too short… if Mush hadn't witnessed the sexuality in her curvy shape, he would've worried that he was fantasizing about being with a __man. He shook his head, and then a smile crossed his lips. He wanted to feel it again—he bounded across the room, leaving a shocked Kid Blink alone on his bunk as he crossed to Jack. He didn't even bother to wake up Jack, just drained his blood quickly, and then reopened the wound on his neck, offering it to the half-awake, half-dead Jack as a sort of frenzied peace treaty. He wanted to see her again—to feel the heat of the room. He didn't understand, but he needed it. He needed Her._

            Within a few moments, the spaced-out feeling occurred again, and Mush grinned to himself this time as he hurtled forward…

_            She turned around, so that Her back was to him, yet stayed just as firmly connected to his skin. With a rhythm that awoke every sense he possessed, their bodies fell to one single unit, a mass of passion and frigid sexual awakening. He closed his eyes, letting the driving pulse of the music control his move. He longed to read Her mind, to learn Her thoughts, but didn't let himself. She was far too sacred to be jostled in such a manner. His left hand sought a resting place upon Her left hip, while his right arm wound its way under Her arm and across her chest to Her left shoulder, binding Her forever to him. She placed Her small, heated hand over his on Her hip, and Her right arm wound through the air with the fluid elegance of a hypnotizing snake before tangling itself behind his head, in his masses of curls. He felt a convulsive shudder run through his body, and felt the terror that he had known only through his victims before. God, She was beautiful._

            When Jack had finished drinking and was staring about himself in amazement, Mush was reeling with the inward revelations. He didn't know what Her name was, but he did know that she was his queen. This time, he had noticed his own outfit… an odd sort of trousers-and-shirt set, where his trousers were roughly the size of Manhattan. It was an odd sensation, to have so much air and fabric around his legs. Thinking of it now, he could only concede that girls and boys had switched places, so that girls were wearing the tight clothing, and boys were wearing trousers that resembled skirts. He led Jack roughly over to Kid Blink's bunk, where Kid Blink was looking quite jostled indeed, and started over to Racetrack's bunk.

            Five minutes later, he was again surging through time and space, again emerging into the same land with the bright colors and loud music.

_            The music changed. The beat that had seemed to drive the club the entire night thus far switched to a soft tango. Mush was almost unaware that he had done it. Everywhere, to either side of them, couples were bending and twisting through romantic positions that they had never known before tonight. Mush realized he was doing this, too. She had changed, too. Her dark blue vampire eyes locked on his, and She spun in a circle before slapping Her hands to Her hips and stomping one foot. The other females copied the motion, though they didn't share Her passion, and Mush took her in his arms willingly. To the quiet beat, the duo twisted and spun the web of the great dance of romance and passion, and as Mush's hands clutched Her torso and he felt Her heart beating three times its normal speed, he leaned in to kiss Her. He wondered that if they were to kiss, would Her magic be broken? Or would it only increase…_

            Now, having created three of his minions, Mush was in agony. He wished to finish the time traveling. He wanted to see the girl again. He _needed to see the girl again. He searched desperately around the bunkroom, feeling there was some purpose for his standing there. There was something he had to do… His eyes caught sight of Misprint's huddled body. Of course. There had been a reason for her being in the bunkroom that night._

            He only now realized that he had been calling her subconsciously.

            He knew, however, that she wasn't to be a minion. Feeling a bit clumsy, for there is nothing gentlemanly about sucking on a girl's neck, he woke her hesitantly. "Misprint… Mis," he said, shaking her. She looked over, panicked for a moment (obviously unaware of where she was), then relaxed.

            "Ya figgered it out, Mush," she said softly.

            "Yeah, now listen to me," he said. "Is it a'right if I…" He paused, unsure of how to ask her permission. "Uh… if I kiss yer neck?"

            She looked quite puzzled. "Mush, that isn't really why I'se snuck in heah tanight…"

            Mush rolled his eyes. "Jus' fer a second, Mis."

            "Well… I guess… I'se kin hold it oveh Mondie fer foreveh," Misprint mused to herself. "Okay, if ya really wanna," she allowed.

            Mush pushed back Kid Blink's shirt, then shivered with the delicious feeling he got from staring at her delicate collarbone, so like the girl's in the dream world… he lightly kissed her skin, then pushed his fangs in.

            Misprint gasped, then fell limp. Mush realized she'd fainted, but decided maybe it was better this way. After draining her, he lightly slapped her face until she awoke and stared feebly at him. He made a new slit, this time on the left side of his neck, and forced her mouth to the wound.

            The dizzying effect of when Kid Blink had first drank accompanied Misprint's gentle sucking at his neck, but this time Mush wasn't transported anywhere, he was merely stuck here, waiting in agony until Misprint had finished drinking her fill. She bared her teeth, and looked around herself much as the others had, admiring everything. He climbed down from her bunk and lifted her with him, carrying her to Kid Blink's bunk. He called over Racetrack as well, and in a hushed tone, began to tell them all the story of Chalereux and what had become of them. They all seemed to be taking it very well, he realized.

            Either that, or they believed they were in a dream.

            Finally, some time later, Mush's urge to create his final minion was buzzing around in his brain. "I want you all to come with me," he said softly, inside their heads. "We're going to Brooklyn."

            The five teens took off at a run through the streets of New York City, dodging people and houses, galloping at such a rate no ordinary human could manage. They were at Spot's side in less than half an hour, and much of that time had been spent trying to sneak past his thugs guarding him while he slumbered.

            Mush didn't bother to wake him, knowing that Spot would adore the idea of himself being in such power. However, Mush was also aware that Spot would be most unmanageable as a regular vampire, as he would have dreams of overtaking the world or something of the sort. So, in hopes of containing him, Mush had decided that with Spot as a minion, he would have to obey everything Mush told him to do.

            The draining of Spot, by now relatively old hat to Mush, was something of a teaching for the new vampires; he reopened the slit in the right side of his neck and grinned as Spot began to lick at the blood, sending Mush hurtling through space one final time.

_            The pounding of the beat was back, and Mush realized with a bit of a start that he was exhausted. No one else in the club could remember the tango frenzy they'd all just embarked on, and resumed their grinding without hesitation. Only he and She remained immobile, staring at each other as if unsure of anything but the fact that they were there, this time, this moment, this now. He stared at Her as She moved closer to him, closer and closer still, until the beat of Her delicate heart nearly drove him insane. Then She bent forward, and kissed him, releasing Her passion in the only way She knew. He smiled to himself, only too happy to bestow his own way of exhausting pleasure, and leaned down to Her neck. He could feel the fangs sliding out… it was only moments before they pierced that crystalline, intense skin…_

            Spot drew away from Mush, and looked pleasantly surprised at the Manhattan brethren assembled before him. "So," he said lightly, as though this was nothing out of the norm. "Vampiahs _do exist, eh?"_

****Mondie huggles story and Mush so hard that he drops all of his crayons** LORDY, I love this story! Gah! Please review! Luffle you all! **Mushy scowls and goes to pick up crayons****


	5. 5

**A/N** )( It was strange, every time I use "sense" in this story, like how Mush uses his "senses" (which, in case you don't catch it, are his vampire senses), I kept thinking of Spiderman and his Spider Sense [Tobey Maguire plus fantastic butt quantity times impossibly tight Spandex equals a VERY HAPPY MONDIE]. Heh. Okay, so I really just wanted to remind you all of how incredibly CHOICE Tobey's butt is. So sue me.

Or don't. I'm poor.

**Shoutouts!**

**Falco Conlon** )( Hehe thanks goilie. Sorry Spot was laughing at you. **Mush hands Falco a crayon, then laughs and steals it back because he doesn't know how to share**

**SparksdaNewsie** )( MOREMOREMORE is here! LOL! Spot wasn't originally in the game plan, but now I'm glad he is. He's gonna be some opportunities for humor in this story. Let me tell you, Spot is NOT going to take lightly to the fact that Mush can control some of his actions. Heh heh heh.

**Shade of Temair** )( Well, you're not dead yet. That's in this chappy. Don't worry, though! It's gonna be all better soon. Soon, my pretty, soon… **Mondie cackles and rubs hands together**

**Hottie5Star** )( Yeah, I suppose Spot being a minion WOULD be a bit of a surprise… it was a bit of a surprise for me as well. ;D But now it's working out, so I'm not complaining. Thank you muchly-mushly!!!!

**The Omniscient Bookseller** )( Why, thank you! **Mush grabs red-violet crayon and scribbles a blush across Mondie's cheeks** You don't know who the "she" is? I DO! Hahaha! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! **Mondie falls over evil-laughing** That's a lot of people to have at your house. I don't even have that many people in my family. I have three cousins, two grandparents, two aunts, two uncles, my mom, my dad, and my brother. That's only twelve people, thirteen including me. Oh yeah, and I have a great-grandma who's in a nursing home. LOL! Hope you have more time to talk in this review, I love yours, Omni!!! :D

**Misprint** )( I do believe that is the LONGEST review I have EVER received. THANK YOU for that, first off! It was so nice to read. I heart long reviews!!!!!!!! Okay, let's go through and comment on your comments… Yes, Mush now hearts his crayons… I don't even know where I came up with that one from… HEHE! I'm glad you were doing a weird skipping thing to get from the phone to the compie. That's fun! I skip all the time. **Mush nods in agreement** Hehe, of COURSE I'm reading Keza's Writer's Block ficcy, and GUESS WHAT! **Mondie jumps up and down in excitement** We're gonna be in the same locay and I'm gonna be bugging you about Bloodflame in her story! Is that not too perfect or WHAT?! **Mondie laughs hysterically** I love that shirt of KB's too, oddly enough. Hmmm… you're still wearing it in the story. I wonder if I'll ever make him make you give it back. Prolly not. ^^ Mush-of-the-Crayola. Hahaha! He's excited about his box of 96 crayons right now. Even though he's eaten roughly twenty of them. **Mush sticks the goldenrod crayon in his mouth and looks thoughtful as he chews it up** Yes, I enjoy making fun of KB's eyepatch in this story… though I have to do it subtly, cuz or else he takes offense. **Mondie rolls eyes** HEY! Speaking of Blackjack and Race losing his harmonica… MORE BUST??? PLEAAAAAAASE? And more Pure? PLEEEEEEEEASE? And ((who knew this was coming)) MUCH MORE ECLIPSE/BLOODFLAME!!!!!!!!!!!! Mush always wears his studmuffinalicious knickers, so of course now he is wisesupervampiricboywithstudmuffinalicious knickers. Hehe. I wish that was a real word. Like in the dictionary. NO MORTAL CAN FOOL WISEMUSH! He's too wise. Yeah. **Mush grabs his black crayon and draws a pair of glasses on his face so that he looks smart** Yeah, Mush, that's it… real intelligent there… **Mondie and Mush make out for three hours** I AM THE WALRUS! KOO KOO KATCHU **Everybody stares at Mondie** What??? Actually, oddly enough, Shannon and I were singing that in French class the other day… HEHEHE you're funny when Mush creates his vampires. Now, when I say 'bound,' WHY does that make you think of Mush jumping around a grocery store sampling pies???? **Mondie raises eyebrows at Mis** Odd, Misi. Odd. YOU'RE RIGHT! Mush *is* too adorable for words! **Mondie huggles CrayolaMush** Yay for wonderful reviews! HERE'S YER KNIFE!

**bittersweet** )( I watch Sister, Sister for Mush too. ;D I love when he's on! And he's such a jerk and it's sooooooo cuuuuuuuuuute and it's just … aawwwwwwwwwwww. Heh. Yes, we muchly-mushly need to catch up. One of these days, I will get a new FOD. One of these days… **sigh** In some ways, I miss it, but in other ways, ff.net has totally taken over what I used to get from FOD. And I love writing, so… I dunno. I guess I like this better because it's a better way for me to hone my skills. But I do miss the writing of my boring life for others to read and be bored by. ;D Love ya goilie!

**rumor** )( I still say that Germans spit a lot. :P So there. Oooh, guess on who you think "she" is. Heh, I can't believe it isn't more obvious for you guys! It seems blaringly so to me. But then again, I know where this story is going. HAHAHAHAHA! **Mondie falls over laughing** Yes, I too loved Spot's aloof attitude toward becoming a vampire… hehehehe!

**kimimay85** )( You really WERE lost, huh?? LOL! That's all right, I still love ya. We were the stepsisters in the French class play of Cinderella. And Drew was a mouse. And we read _Les Miserables_ and it took friggin FOREVER but the French 3 class now only has to watch the movie. **Mondie tapdances away** NO WORK TONIGHT! WHOO WHOO WHOOOOOOOOO!

NDBT Chapter 5

            Shade turned a corner and squinted into the impossibly bright sunlight. A figure was coming toward her, a mere shadow within the effervescent glow of the yellow-white wall of light behind him. She felt the wall coming closer, and with it, the figure. The sun was so warm… unusually warm… too warm. Frowning a bit, she moved backward, trying to escape, but the sun was on all sides now. And the figure… he darted around her, and she only caught sight of his smirk and one blue-green eye before being jerked awake—

            The heat from her dream was real. She shot up in bed when she realized she was surrounded by darting flames, prophesizing a fantastic dance of mortality. She opened her mouth to scream, but the harsh intake of breath rubbed raw against her singed throat. Her lungs were full of ashy smoke, and as she vainly tried to cough it out, a new sound filled the air.

            "Help! Help!" It took a moment for Gemini to actually form the words, and to thrust them forward, some time more. She tried to stand, tried to see, but the thick, billowing smoke made it all too impossible. Instead, she fell to her knees and tried to crawl forward, still bleating her one feeble word repeatedly. She heard a rasping cough, and looked forward, just as a burning beam fell from the wall. She rolled out of the way just in time, but didn't escape a heavy shot of soot in her face. She shrieked in pain as it fought battle with her eyes, a throbbing she could never have imagined before. Tears streamed down her face, and yet it seemed she was completely deserted in the bunkroom; aside from the coughing, she hadn't heard anyone else. Wiping furiously at her eyes to rid them of the criminal imposing substance, she looked blurrily forward. A curl flopped into her eyes, as normal; she was used to this hindrance by now. But as she moved to flip it back into place, she noticed its color. Not her usual brassy red, but gray with ash. In combination with the fumes and the heat, this stunned her, and she could only stare at her hair as if entranced. Eventually, it moved out of focus, and she instead noticed what had been just beyond her line of vision… two figures.

            The smoke was hindering her movements, so it took five minutes to reach them. When she did, she shook her head and began to cry again, feeling exhausted and beat and too bogged down to even scream. It was Mondie and Broadway. Their hands were clasped together tightly, and their smoldering garments had burned holes as if they'd been on fire but had put it out. A beam had fallen, and it must have struck them down. It pinned them to the ground, across their backs, but neither of the girls was moving any longer. Not even a precious thin breath was being taken in or out.

            Gemini couldn't hear the coughing anymore. She was tired, too… so tired. She looked yearningly toward the window, which had shattered some time before, she figured. Flames had begun to consume its sill, barring an exit by way of the fire escape. She jerked around, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She began to cough in the same harsh, resounding way that Shade had done earlier.

            Soon, though, she too fell silent.

            Spot stopped the group all as they began to cross the bridge. He quickly scaled down the bank and approached the water. Using his senses, Mush could see Spot examining his image in the murky water, undoubtedly testing his own senses. It had already been proven evident that Mush's powers far outshone the others; while they too could see at night, his vision was far less obstructed, and while they too could push out their fangs at will, it was a bit painful for them to do it. Mush watched as Spot grimaced at his reflection, and to his surprise, Mush could feel the vibrating feeling touch his mouth as Spot's fangs thrust out. And, if he concentrated hard enough, he could see exactly was Spot was seeing, down to the wavy reflections of water which didn't show the fearful fangs clearly enough for Spot's liking. It was as if he was inside Spot's brain…

            With an actual jerk of his head, he pulled his thoughts away, and immediately felt himself regain the thoughts in his brain. He shook his head. Sometimes this vampire stuff was just too weird…

            "Mush." He heard Misprint's voice clearly, though she was whispering. It sounded almost as if her tongue were too thick for her mouth. Intrigued, he looked over, only to find that she was attempting to talk around her jagged fangs. Finding it too hard, she sighed and willed them up amongst her other teeth. Then she began again. "I'se know some goils who'd love ta join dis… etoinal pardy…"

            Mush rolled his eyes. "Mis, we's can't go aroun' makin' all a' ours frien's vampiahs."

            "Shoah we can!" she answered, pouting a bit. "You gots ta make all a' you's frien's inta vampiahs, now why can't I?"

            Mush shrugged. "I'm not yer mastah, Misprint. You ain't a minion. So you kin make whoeveh ya want inta a vampiah. Jus' know dat sometimes people change when dey become vampiahs… dat's what Chalereux tol' me."

            Misprint brightened. "Well, c'mon wit' me den. Wit' dese skills, I'se bet we's kin git all da way inta da bunkroom wit'out bein' caught. Den you boys kin see a _goils' bunkroom. Lemme tell ya, it's so much cleaneh…"_

            Mush had to admit that this had a certain appeal to him, and so on his quiet command, the small band of vampires strode back into Manhattan, their strides nearly double. Misprint led the way through the twisting streets to her lodging house.

            "Holy shit…" she cursed, staring up at the building in awe.

            Large orange flames enveloped the entire building and the two on either side of it. A few terrified screams pierced the air. No one had yet made it outside, though shouts could be heard down the street, undoubtedly from some bulls alerting the volunteer fire service.

            "Jesus, I'se gotta save 'em!" Misprint said, starting towards the building.

            "No! You can't!" Mush said, feeling a bit panicked. "Dere's ways dat vampiahs can git keeled, remembeh? I tol' ya 'em oilieh, befoah we wen' ta Brooklyn even. FIAH IS ONE A' DEM. You's can't go in dere. You'll die."

            "If I don', me friend's'll die!" Misprint shouted back, her fierce eyes locking on Mush's. She tried to brush past him, but he caught a fast hold on her arm and wouldn't let her move. She cried out in bitter agony as the flames mockingly jumped around in the rooms she couldn't get to. Mush was just that much stronger than she was. "SHADE!" she yelled miserably, wondering vaguely if somehow her voice had some magic power that would propel them out of the burning building. "MONDIE! GEM! BROADWAY!"

            "Mush, we can't jus' let 'em scream in dere," Blink said anxiously, the flames reflecting in his visible eye. "Dey're dyin', Mush!" He too started for the building determinedly.

            "No one is goin' in dere!" Mush roared, and Kid Blink was astounded to find that his feet were stuck fast to the ground. He could only retreat, not move forward. He whimpered a bit, truly disturbed at the fact that Mush would just let all those girls die without a fight.

            Mush could hear Chalereux's voice in his head, and he knew that he alone could walk among the flames. She had told him that he couldn't be killed, even by the things that restricted other vampires. Yet it wasn't exactly himself alone that was restraining him. There was a _purpose for these girls' deaths, as horrible as the thought seemed to him. He wished to spit its potency upon the ground. Yet he held fast to the prophetic thought, hoping that, this time, at least, he was doing the right thing._

            "C'mon, back heah!" he commanded, leading the small group away from the burning building. Misprint was crying softly now, and her hypnotizing tears seemed worse than anything that anyone could do; they were the tears of bitter defeat, of angst and pain. Mush had to turn away from her.

            "Wha's da use?" she finally spat. "Wha's da use a' bein' … bein'… one a' dese if I can't even help people?"

            "Bein' a vampiah has nuttin' ta do wit' savin' people," Spot told her crossly. He wanted to go exploring, but because of the others' _sensitivity_, he was stuck watching an old building burn to its cinders. He wanted to go out, seduce some young night creature, and watch her slowly lose blood at his hands. A wicked smile pressed upon his lips.

            "All a' me minions. You's on'y allowed ta drink da blood a' moiderahs an' dose who do what da Loid t'inks is a sin," Mush commanded.

            Spot glared. "Wha' da hell is you talkin' abou?"

            Misprint shrieked. "WHO CAHES! WHO CAHES! Ev'ry one a' me bes' friends is dyin, an' NONE A' YOU CARES!" She ripped her arm free of Mush's and ran from him. He watched closely to make sure she didn't run into the burning building, but she seemed to heed his warning (for once). Instead, she took off down a side street.

            "Ey, why's she get ta move?" Kid Blink asked grumpily. "Wha' if she goes an' tells someone what we are, huh?"

            Mush shook his head. "Give'r time, fellas. It's been a long night fer her. An' it's not oveh yet."


	6. 6

Sorry, chillin's. I know this chappy's a bit slow, and a lot dappy. Don't worry, the next one's gonna be better. Uh… hopefully.

THANK YOU for all the reviews!

**The Omniscient Bookseller** )( Don't you worry, we haven't seen the last of the four girls yet. I wouldn't kill myself off so easily without a fight, now would I? Jack and Race make their reappearances in this chappy… they were THERE in the last chapter, just not really with any purpose. I tend to forget just how many people I'm supposed to be writing about. Whoops. We don't have fashion shows, dress-code appropriate or otherwise, at my school. But that's all right, because Mush puts on fashion shows for me all the time. He just happens to "forget" (aka I steal) his clothing for them. **Mondie shrugs nonchalantly** Hey, what can ya do? ;D Thanks Omni! I hearteth youeth!

**rumor** )( No problem! Hey, thanks for emailing me! My hotmail was being RETARDED and didn't want to let me send anything back to you (unless you got it— ?) but I *did* read and enjoy that chapter! Mush ::ahem Portman:: in drag… oh dear!!! It made me go into a total Mighty Ducks mood and I couldn't rest until I'd watched D3's last 10 minutes. WHOO WHOO! You got my Ferris reference with the "choice"ness of Tobey's butt. That is EXACTLY where I stole it from. "And I love driving it. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly suggest picking one up." HAHA! I TOTALLY heart that movie. It's one of the best ones out there. Actually, Aaron's in like 3 episodes of Sister, Sister… I've only seen that one once, and PART of one of the others in an episode where it was like them looking back on all sorts of stuff, and he's in it being a jerk again. He's so cute. **Mondie huggles Aaron Lohr**

**Falco Conlon** )( **Mush looks in interest at waffle and pixi stick, then throws them over the shoulder and begins scribbling across a picture of Ryan Phillippe with his tangerine crayon** **Mondie sighs** He's a bit aggravated with me for saying that I love Ryan's butt in Cruel Intentions. But if HE doesn't want the waffle and pixi stick, I'll be glad to take them. **Mush glares and brandishes the tangerine crayon at Mondie** Fine, fine, you keep them! Really, he's horrible. Or not. Maybe just beautiful…

**Ali** )( I *do* feel guilty. Sorry about the heart attack, there. :/ Hmm. Mmmm, Mushy cheerleader doing pelvic thrusts?? WONDERFUL! Spirit crayons! He'd like those very much. **Mush nods insanely, his eyes wide** Uh-oh, now you gotta give them to him. Or he'll go crazy. Which would not be very pretty. Thank you very much for reading the whole story and leaving such an exuberant review!

**Shade of Temair** )( Yeah? Yeah? YEAH? Well, I'm gonna stalk Aaron Lohr some day. As soon as I get a car. And some gas. And find out his street address. I'm gonna go break into his house and make myself a frozen pizza while coloring him pictures. Then he'll come home and fall in love with me and my excellent frozen pizza and we'll get married within the next week. I enjoyed the last sentence of your review… bwahaha but I'm not gonna tell you what it is in case you forget so you have to go look at it yourself. SO THERE! **Mondie runs away, screaming at the top of her lungs** *Mush shrugs and goes back to coloring a picture of a Christmas tree* FIFTEEN DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!

**misprint** )( Awww, I miss reading Romeo and Juliet… that was freshie English… then we watched the movie. The Leo DiCaprio version. We all laughed and pointed at the screen a lot. It was grand fun. Mush loves his crayons. It's good fun, because now my reviewers have started leaving him crayons in their reviews. It makes him unbelievably happy, because their crayons replace the ones he's eaten. Swing dancing… one year, we had this dance (I think it was for Renaissance, but I'm not sure… Renaissance is this like incentive-program at out school) in the middle of the school year… soph year, I think, and up on the balcony of our gym there were tables set up for the poker tournaments, then there was dancing down on the gym floor. Well, like NOBODY came to it, so it was wonderful! They played all sorts of FABULOUS old songs, and did some swing dancing numbers, and everyone on the floor was going all out and we had THE best time ever because it was basically just like my friends and I. I think I won some free movie rentals as a door prize, too. But the swing dancing songs were the fun ones. We all spread out all over the gym floor and just danced our hearts out. GAH! That was like the best dance I've ever been to. Plus they didn't blast us out with pure rap songs. OH, you guys don't even know the HALF of the foreshadowing I've been sticking in! A lot of it, I don't even know that it'll be foreshadowing until I'm reading over past chappies and I'm like, HEY! That works out here as this… I think it would make more sense if I uploaded like the whole story and people read it in more condensed versions, but since that is like impossible as I haven't written the rest of the story, ah well. I've tried to watch Velvet Goldmine! Really I have! It's just that none of our thirty bazillion video rental places HAVE it to rent! **Mush grabs pink crayon and draws lip marks on one of Mondie's white elbow gloves from prom last year** Here's yer glove! Inflammable is the stupidest word ever. WHY did they make it so that it means the same as "flammable"? I'm glad I'm not a foreigner trying to learn English. It would take FOREVER. How can you be having trouble with Eclipse?? Didn't you and Shade come up with the entire plot line, start to finish? Because you said it was gonna end dappy and I was gonna hate you for it! Anyhow. Thanks for the wondrous review!!! LOVE YA MIS! Oh, and I tried to make your part bigger in this chappy… but it was a bit of a struggle, and turned out very dappy. Sorry!!! I *did* try.

**Hottie5Star** )( Oh, Mush has got such WONDROUS insight, don't he?? **Mondie huggles Mush** He's so sexy when he's all authoritative! Thanks for the reviews. Seriously!!! :D :D

**Aki** )( Thank you so much!!!!! I really can't tell you how much that means to me. I HEART YOU AKI! There *will* be more Untouchables shortly. I'm kinda stuck because I don't know how to do this without messing up my chapters. Dang story, taking off in its own directions. Gah. I hate it when that happens. Mush says THANK YOU for the crayon!! He is getting quite a collection from you reviewers now. Which is good, because it replenishes how many he's eaten. **Mush sniffs at London Blue Topaz interestedly** No, Mush, the new crayon is too pretty to eat! **Mush, instead of eating it, draws Aki a picture of a bluebird**

**bittersweet** )( Ah, no jealousy, mon amie! I know, Mushy Darling's so SMART now! **Mondie huggles Mush AGAIN** I love him in this story. I've never written Mush so serious before. Well, except in that angsty fic where he hated the whole world. But other than that. Mush and I would love to double with you and Jack! Name the day. Mush and I are almost always free. It's sad. We have no lives. **Mush nods and continues coloring the picture of a bluebird for Aki** Lucky stiff, we missed all the crazy snow. :( Then again, we got the crazy tornadoes earlier. So I guess we're even.

**gEMINI KELLY** )( Haha someone went a bit psycho with her caps lock, no? We sang that song when we went on our 6th grade trip to Chicago… since it's about Chicago and all… we were odd children in 6th grade. **Mush nods with Mondie then slowly unwraps his lime green crayon to eat it** Thanks for reviewing Gem! I heart you! I've already gotten started on the next chappy… your re-admittance into the story. Oh, it's so good! I love it already. Heh. Actually, I wrote most of your chappy before I wrote this one… LOL!

**Alison224** )( Thanks thanks thanks! You're a sweetie!!!!!! :D :D :D

**kimimay85** )( Mrs. Cron is friggin senile. And we have percussion at 5 pm today and then a concert at 7:30. How retarded!!!!!!! I hope I'm not the only one to show up to move equipment. I wonder if you're coming… hmmm. Guess I'll find out, huh?? :D My dog is asleep and insane. It's a great combination. Love ya hun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the review!

NDBT Chapter 6

            Misprint wasn't seen for a week after that. The other four boys seemed to be getting anxious over her abrupt vacancy, but Mush was using his newly found ability to read minds to keep tabs on her. She was still in the city, and oftentimes quite near to the boys as they went about prowling at night.

            Spot had begun to completely adore his vampiric life. He lived for thrill. There was nothing he loved more than the look of surprise on his victim's face when he or she saw his fangs bared at them. He adored playing games with them, luring them to follow him and to force them through a grotesque skipping game with him as the almighty, jeering puppeteer. He didn't even mind any longer the fact that Mush had commanded him not to drink innocents' blood, because New York City was a hotbed for crime and he never lacked subjects to sink his teeth into.

            Racetrack, by comparison, seemed a bit less taken with this life. He too enjoyed terrifying the evildoers who had already inspired terror in others, but he would much rather roam the city, looking at the skyline and the stars with his heightened senses. He delighted to watch people rendezvousing on their rooftops while he carelessly thumbed through his deck of cards, a light whistle often perched upon his lips. Mush noticed that he seemed more withdrawn, but he'd once had the audacity to read Racetrack's thoughts as he stared at a piano player's fingers in a tavern, and was astounded to find that Race was thinking about Misprint. Mush had quickly left the walls of Race's mind, not wishing to hear more. It was evident by now that he was the only one with the power to read the others' thoughts, but he knew that he would be mortified if they could read his. He tried not to do it after that instance, but had been wondering ever since what he would have heard had he listened longer. Was Racetrack merely worried about one of their fellow vampires? Or was it something deeper? He'd never heard Race mention Misprint's name lewdly before, when the boys jested about the girls they (or their friends) liked, but Racetrack had never been one for sharing his feelings much. He loved being the center of attention and had the sarcasm to prove it, but openhearted? Racetrack, Mush was sure, would rather give up gambling for life.

            Jack had become slightly wilder. He had developed a rather unusual way of surprising his foes; he tended to lie on the sidewalk, pretending to be hurt and in pain, and wait for a cutthroat to try and steal his money or some other frivolity. Then he would jump up and start hollering cowboy phrases, waving his hat around. After he'd successfully lasso the fiend, he'd draw up closer and closer until mere inches away from the man, and then bare his fangs slowly. Then, without giving time for the creature to think, he'd bite. Jack was the one who was least likely to be with the group, surprisingly; even Spot tended to stay closer to the others more than Jack. One thing notable to see was that when Jack's skin had turned porcelain white like the others' (it apparently was some side effect of becoming a vampire), his hair had changed to a shimmery auburn, rather than the greasy golden honey tone everyone remembered. It was a general consensus amongst them that he looked much the better for it.

            And Kid Blink. When he'd become a vampire, he'd regained his sight in his left eye. No one was particularly positive how this happened, but he now didn't wear the eyepatch. It had startled even Mush the first night he'd strutted around sans it. He hadn't seen his friend without it in nearly five years. Kid hadn't changed all that much. He bit people, but didn't take the same sadistic pleasure that the others did from it. In fact, had he still worn the eyepatch and not owned fangs, Mush would have wondered that he had made Kid a vampire at all. As soon as his feeding was done, he'd be ready to go do something else. Often, he and Mush, who hardly ever needed to drink any blood, as Chalereux had told him, would wander through the city, just the two of them. Occasionally Racetrack would accompany them, but even then he seemed to dreamily float along while Mush and Kid Blink spoke in quiet tones. The city belonged to them at night. All of its beauty, all of its charm, all of its wonderful independence—it was theirs to claim. They began to branch out, to visit boroughs they'd never been to before. Never once, however, did they meet any other vampires.

            Mush began to find his daytime life becoming dull and monotonous. He was the only one who could walk freely in the daylight, when his vampire peers needed their sleep. Yet, he couldn't visit any of his previous haunts. His disappearance, along with Blink, Race, Jack, and Spot (he'd heard the thoughts of a Brooklyn boy when just realizing the extent of his power, and the child had been mourning the fact that Spot was gone), was unexplained in the newsie world. He knew that he'd have a lot of questions to answer if anyone caught sight of him and realized who he was. Therefore, he preferred to stay apart from everywhere familiar.

            During the day, he'd ask a sleeping Misprint where she was through his thought-speaking. Her subconscious would think of the spot, and he'd go there first thing in the morning. It made him feel slightly better about the situation. She was still hurting sorely from the loss of her friends, and so he didn't want to bother her when she was awake and mourning. He still felt protective of her, though, and thus checked on her to make sure that she was hidden well, and out of the way of any sunlight that could possibly stream into where she slept and burn her. After that, he'd go up on a roof and watch his 'normal' friends leaving the distribution office, yelling out wares, just to see how they were doing. The topic of the boys' disappearance and the burned-down girls' lodging house were all the news the newsies passed to each other, and it had put a bit of a damper on their spirits. He knew that the four Manhattan boys who were now vampires, himself included, had been some of the ones who had held the group together.

            One week after Misprint had gone sprinting from the scene of fire, Racetrack appeared particularly sullen. "Mush," he whined, sounding a bit anxious. "Wheah da hell is Misprint? When's she comin' back?"

            Mush sighed. "Race, she's hoitin'. She's safe, though, I look up on her."

            Race's face compacted into a grimace. "Yeah, well, how's about _I look up on 'er?" He began to shuffle his cards, almost nervously. "C'mon, Mush. I'se woirried aboudder."_

            "I tol' ya, she's fine," Mush answered.

            Kid, the only other one walking with them, rolled his eyes. It was particularly humorous when he did so, because while his right eye had had plenty of practice of rolling during the past few years, when he'd hit puberty, his left had remained idle. Now it seemed to be playing catch-up, and often rolled faster or slower than the right eye. He also had the tendency to become off-balance and walk into walls and signs and doors. "Mush, jus' tell 'im so 'e can shaddup an' stop playin' wit' dose ridiculously loud cahds."

            Mush didn't particularly find Racetrack's cards to be loud, but knew he wouldn't win this fight. Racetrack's lip was set too determinedly, and Kid Blink (who had just slammed, rather forcefully, into a corner he'd been attempting to turn around) sounded too testy to put up with much else. He concentrated for a moment, and could see the areas that Misprint was seeing. He couldn't ask her with the thought-voice where she was, because she would only get agitated and angry, but she couldn't sense him looking through her eyes. He waited until she turned a corner into a section he knew well, then smiled. "She's at Midtown righ' now, Race. Ya betteh hoiry, I don' know how much longah she'll be dere. She's jus' lookin' fer someone ta bite."

            Racetrack nodded, a slight grin splitting his face, before turning on his heel and sprinting away, far faster than any mortal could. He was soon out of sight.

            Mush turned to help Kid Blink steer across a street, and wouldn't let his mind wander to overhearing Misprint and Racetrack.

            He would never positively be sure of what had occurred between the two, but Misprint came with Racetrack to the boys' sleeping spot that night. She looked a bit sheepish and upset, but after Mush hugged her to him firmly, she seemed to feel a little better. He also made note of the fact that she'd slipped back into a skirt, having apparently found the trousers much to her discomfort. She'd remained in the striped shirt belonging to Kid Blink, however. As the last hour of nighttime sped to a close, she stayed swift to Racetrack's side. Race didn't even join in the game of poker with the other boys, amazingly, but stayed on the sidelines with Mis. Mush looked over at them once, just to make positive that Race wouldn't want dealt in, and had to smile at the scene that met his eyes. Race was whispering something lightly into her ear, and she was giggling softly. Their hands were clenched together between them. Mush wondered to himself if they'd been dating before or if this was a new development.

            That day, as his friends all slumbered, Mush made a mistake. He was walking calmly down a street, at a pace that felt slow to him, but was still faster than anyone else was cantering along. He wasn't paying much attention to the day or the time or his direction; otherwise, he might have realized that it was opposite the route that Skittery always took at 10 am on Thursdays, to visit his girl, Jennifer, in the Bronx. He rounded a corner unsuspectingly, and found himself face-to-face (well, truthfully, face-to-chest, since Skittery is far taller) with Skittery.

            He instantly cursed his luck, as Skittery's face relaxed in a thoughtless smile of recognition, then slowly turned back to a confused frown. "Wha… Mush?" he asked incredulously. "Wheah have you been? Why's you so pale?"

            Mush didn't speak a word to him, only gaped. He spun on his heel and ran as fast as he could back down the street, not caring who saw him and realized he was moving too fast. He ran around the block and then up a deserted staircase, where he sat down quickly, not even out of breath. He instantly began to read along with Skittery's thoughts, wishing that he hadn't blown it for him and his friends.

            Skittery's thoughts, however, were a jumbled mess. He didn't seem to know _what to make of Mush's sudden appearance and disappearance. As he neared a corner containing Boots and Snipeshooter, his breath came hurtling out, carrying words. "Mush… his ghost… or somethin'… jus' saw it… Mush…"_

            "Wha' is ya talkin' 'bout, Skitts?" asked Boots, looking interestedly at Skittery.

            Skittery was still trying to make sense of the scene in his mind. "I saw Mush… jus', like, a shimmery white image a' him. An' den 'e toined away, wit'out a woid, an' floated off, fasteh dan anyt'ing you's eveh seen. Oh, Gawd… oh, Gawd Almigh'y! Does dis mean den…"

            Boots surveyed Skittery carefully, then said slowly, "I t'ink dat seein' a spirit is supposed ta be a sign dat, like, da poisen ain't comin' back no more."

            "Does dat mean… maybe I saw dat so… we all _know dat our boys is gone? Dat dere's no more Jack? No more Race? No more Blink? Or Mush?"_

            "Maybe," Boots answered. He sounded suddenly distraught. "Gawd, I was really hopin' dat dey was jus' on a nighttime-leavin', week-stayin' trip ta Brooklyn or somet'in'."

            "We all was, Boots," Snipeshooter said softly. "We all was."

            That night, Mush, fervently glad that they all had the same white cast under their original tones, had them all steal up the stairs of the lodging house into the bunkroom, save Misprint, who sat on the fire escape, and Spot, who had insisted upon instead going to feed some more. The Manhattan boys silently glided from bunk to bunk, until everyone was, however sleepily, awake. A few candles were lit, and some murmurs of "whass goin' on?" and "who da hell woke me up?" around thick tongues were uttered. Then Specs gave a gasp and sat up straight in bed.

            "HOLY SHIT!"

            Mush had found a new power. He realized that he could make himself levitate, and, if he concentrated _very hard, the others, too. He felt himself growing weaker and weaker the longer they floated there, but wouldn't give up._

            "Ghosts. Ghosts. Ghosts. Lawd almigh'y, dere's ghosts!" Bumlets said in awe.

            "Mon Dieu," whispered Pie Eater.

            Without a word, Mush motioned at his fellow vampires, and wafted them back down the stairs. Jack, of course, couldn't resist tipping his cowboy hat, and would have shouted a "yee-haw!" had not Mush given him a thought-warning not to. And poor Kid Blink nearly fell down the stairs after bumping into the banister and nearly breaking Mush's mind control over his floating. As soon as they were outside, he let them all fall back to the ground with an emphatic "oomph!"

            From that point on, it was never debated between newsies whether the four Manhattan boys had died or not, and the newsies that lived to go on to better lives told scary stories to their grandchildren about 'the night the ghosts visited'.


	7. 7

**Shoutouts! Thanks, you guys. 69 reviews! ((And get those minds out of the gutters…))**

**littlewitch1899 **)( Hey, I'm really sorry, but I didn't even CC this story… :( I just wrote it using some of my favey-davey people on ff.net. If I had CC'd it, I'd be MORE than happy to include you. But I actually have a plot laid out, and anyhow it's too late now to make another vampy minion boy for you. :( I hope you still keep reading!

**Falco The Lazy Bum** )( **Mush grabs a waffle iron and starts melting crayons in it** **Mondie giggles, thinking of Falco's part in Keeeeeeeeeezah's Writer's Block** Don't worry, the story isn't even HALF over yet… EEEE! We haven't figured out who Mush's "Girl" is, that he was having those flashforwards to when he was making his minions… and this chapter marks the 1920s! Whoo whoo! Thanks for the review chica!

**Broadway** )( Whoohoo you changed your name! That excites me. NO, it's not near the 80s yet! LOL! But sure, Spot can wear skintight pants… **Mondie suddenly imagines Spot dancing to coolie coolie COOLIE 80s moves and she falls over laughing**

**The Omniscient Bookseller** )( Ahhh! Don't hate me! I just think that Race and Mis would be a funny and great couple. That's all. It's nothing against you personally! LOL! Gah… I wish Blink still walked into stuff in this story… that made me giggle. And I'm the author. Which is sad and pathetic all at the same time. Hehehe! **Mondie wrestles Omni to the ground and steals Spot's razor** NO KILLING YOURSELF! YOU HEAR ME???

**Slick o' Brooklyn** )( Hey thanks! LOL sorry, but like I just told littlewitch1899, I didn't CC this story and so I don't think I'll be adding random peeps into this… :( If I didn't have a plot line and the minions already made, though, I'd add you all! Sorry! :( Thanks for the two reviews in one! :D I'm glad you like the story so much.

**asp** )( Vampire Bumlets… for some reason, I have a horrible time writing Bumlets' parts. I've started like twenty fics with him in them, but not one is good enough to post… I find it sad. Poor Bummy. Anyhow. **Mushy nods seriously at your advice to get the swirly crayon thingy and adds it to his Christmas List.**

**Hottie5Star** )( Thanks! I think last chapter was the best so far, indefinitely. Blink makes me laugh. He's awesome crazy cool. I'm so glad you love it!!! :D Thanks for all the reviews.

**rumor** )( I hate Banks in Mighty Ducks. I don't know why, but I do. He aggravates me. I hate his polo shirts. Anyhow. Kimi just got me Mighty Ducks 2 on DVD yesterday for my Christmas present and it is fantabuloso! I reread/rewatch things a lot as well… especially when I get a favey-davey thing. Once I fall in love with a book or a movie, I never stop reading it… it's sad. LOL. I must have read the HP books about three million times each… Oh, don't worry, Spot whines a lot in this chappy and is now totally in denial about Mush's banishment and orders. THAT IS THE BEST LINE IN SWING KIDS! Of course, Kimi and I watched it after we'd become obsessed with Newsies and so when he yelled that he was a cowboy, we couldn't contain ourselves and just CRACKED UP. Hey, weird fact I just thought of… there's this boy at work, Casey, and he looks and sounds exactly like Dwayne (Duane?) does in Mighty Ducks 2 and 3… it's pathetic… LOL. Well, can't you just imagine old, senile newsies (kinda like Kloppman) who enjoy frightening their grandchildren with stories of SCARY GHOSTS while the kids are like, "Yeah, yeah, shaddup, lemme play with my toys". I can, at least. And it makes me laugh.

**Mist** )( Yay! Thanks for reading SD!!!!!! :D :D :D I love French Pie Eater… I'm gonna miss the kid. I was vying to make him a vampy, but I didn't have anyone who could be his vampire mistress… (This was before I realized just how much Keza loves him) So there ya go. He might show up again though, everyone else is going to be… You do not suck at reviewing! I luffle your review. So there. **Mush sticks out his tongue and then runs away giggling, drawing a picture of Mist looking insulted with his crayons**

**bittersweet (the ever lazy)** )( I don't know why I made him have red hair, I just … did. LOL. Now it's intriguing me that I wrote it, because everytime I think of the kid now, he's got this pure white skin and deep red hair… I find it sexy. So there. :P Who are you getting married to, if not Jack?? Mush and I will GLADLY come to your wedding. And he says THANK YOU!!!!!! for the crayon. **Mush nods emphatically, a bright smile lighting up his face** I'm obsessed with coloring now. Dang my creativeness with my newsies' activities.

**Rosa Lee** )( **Mush draws Aki another picture, this one of himself complete with FAR too much curly hair and lopsided ears** AWWWWWWWWWWW! HE'S SO CUTE! **Mondie kisses Mushy's nose** **Pie Eater sticks head in shoutout to assure Aki that he'd be happy to teach her French** Shh, don't tell Keza, she'll get mad. Heh. Mush says THANK YOU!!!!!!! for the crayon. He's getting quite a collection.

**misprint** )( **Mush stares at mondie-colored crayons in amazement** He's never seen crayons so beautiful before… LOLOL j/j! You'd say you were the Incredible Hulk? What are you, green-skinned? I hadn't noticed from those pics of you on your site… I have a really cool part in my story that's added in just for me. I don't think anyone else will get it. I stuck it in all sneaky-like, as if I were J.K. Rowling with the insertion of Rita Skeeter throughout the 4th book. But the thing is, I'm not gonna reveal it later what I'm talking about, like she does with Rita… it's just for me. And it makes me happy that it's a secret I have with myself. ((Now watch, you're gonna figure it out as you read. Dang you.)) I'm getting slow at updating too. Well, less slow, more STUCK. On everything but this. Kimi's really getting on my case to update Spotty Whore. Yes, Racey is *so* cute in this. I heart him muchly-mushly. I wish I knew how to tap-dance… :( Unfortunately, my mother stuck me in gymnastics instead of dance when I was younger. And I SUCKED at gymnastics, too, so I quit them. Heh. Oh, I'm from Ohio. In fact, I didn't even know where Iowa WAS in the US (I knew it was farther west than Ohio, but that was about it) until today, when I thought about how you confused OH and IA and me and so when I was in government class I looked on the map to see where IA is. LOL. Is it bad when I don't even know the geography of the country I live in??? I loved that line about what state CA is in, and you said LA… HAHAHAHAHA! That's soooooooo funny! You crack me up, Mis. Hopefully you *are* a girl… LOL! Or else Race's in for ONE heck of a surprise… LOL you need to read my review for Omni's "Untitled," the chapter with creepy Race in it… the whole review, I'm like, "Mis is gonna KEEL you for this." Heh. Thanks for the review! I heart you Mis! Bloodflame?

**Shade of Temair** )( How sad that you don't want to be lusty over Overly sexy Mushy Darling. He's hurt. Anyhow. You have to luffle Blinky-182. Yup, yup, yup you do. Heh heh that rhymed. In my mind, at least.

**A/N** :: Hey, Gem, sorry 'bout this, but I can't find your "real" name anywhere… I just made up one during the chapter. If you let me know what it is or what you'd LIKE Character Gemini's first name to be, I'll be happy to come and upload the chappy with the new name. Just let me know!!!!! :D :D :D

[[The song at the end of the chapter is from the musical _Thoroughly Modern Millie. Very enjoyable.]]_

**_GUESS WHAT!!!!_** I just got accepted into Wooster, my first choice college! I'm *so* excited that I'm liable to burst into flames or something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH! SHOUT HURRAY AND HALLELU! **I think I've been listening to Thoroughly Modern Millie far too much.** **Mush draws a picture of an elated Mondie for all of you to look upon**

NDBT Chapter 7

New York City, 1923

            The jazz music seemed to electrify the air of the vast room, as the twirling notes reverberated off the walls. This particular song was mournful, and the saxophone sang its verse of woe. Mush sat at a table way in the back with Kid Blink and Spot. They were inconspicuously pretending to sip their Coca-Cola while in fact trying to contain their boredom. Well, to be honest, _Mush was bored. Spot and Blink had their eyes continuously roaming about, usually landing on the easily accessible necks of the lovely playthings who romped about in their short, fringed skirts. Of course, the group had already fed earlier in the night, on a group of five mobsters Mush had been scouting during the long, lonely days of the past week. It would have been impossible for them to be resting here now, if they hadn't drank already; the blood of their victims brought heat to their bodies and a flush to their cheeks, so that they could blend in, and the touch of their hands didn't frighten people into thinking the hand of death was gripping their exposed shoulders._

            Misprint and Racetrack weren't far away; though the beat was lagging, they took it in double-time, their limbs gesticulating enough to keep fellow dancers, however exuberant themselves, at a twenty foot radius in all directions from the wild duo.

            Jack was a different story entirely. He wasn't bored, or pining over the unobtainable fancies of the glamorous nightcreatures, or dancing while looking so out-of-place that his fellow vampires wondered if they'd get kicked out. Where his lanky youthfulness had hindered him throughout the late 1890s, it proved an effortless, sublime tool in this, the 1920s. He finally looked as though he belonged somewhere, and it seemed to bring relief to his soul. The dances, which he knew all too well, were performed flawlessly by him. The unrestrainable cowboy they'd all known blended in here, amongst the flappers and zoot suits, with a natural ease. Mush watched Jack, lifting a beautiful redhead into the air with a fluid movement. It was amazing, how exquisitely he matched the flow, so that he didn't stick out at all. Rather, his partner did, for the vivacious light yellow of her dress only enhanced her beauty, causing her to look like a burst of lively flame. Jack's own light green suit made the pair look like spring itself, like a tree just bursting into bloom in the radiant glow of a celestial sun. Mush leaned back in his chair, studying the elegant couple interpreting the jazz music to their own bodies. Jack didn't even look like a vampire. Well, then again, Mush supposed, when he was with these people, he _wasn't a vampire. The instant he stepped through the doors, he became one of them. He __was them. He was the embodiment of their lives. He was the underlying essence of their souls._

            It was for Jack that the group came here every night, and Jack alone. Though the evenings were tedious for those who didn't share his flair for the wailing instruments of jazz, it seemed all Jack cared about. The jazz song changed to a more upbeat tone, and the spirits about the room lifted with the tempo. Soon girls were kicking up their legs in promiscuous, insinuating manners, and the boys were enjoying it far too much to complain.

            "Mu-ush," complained Spot, shifting restlessly in his seat. He always had so much _energy. Mush wished that he'd just go dance and get all the vibes out of his body, but one night when he'd suggested it, Spot had flung back a retort so harsh that it made Mush's ears turn red to think about it. Quite apparently, Spot Conlon did __not dance. Spot continued his persistent whimpering. "Jus' one. One goil… I sweah I won' hoit 'er." He alone still carried the whine of his adolescence. Though every other person in their group had seemed to grow intellectually, at least with their thoughts growing more complex every day, Spot seemed to be stuck eternally in the same arrogant, bull-headed mood as when he'd been fifteen. Mush thought to himself that this most likely derived from the fact that Spot refused to learn anything new, even with all the resources now open to his white, effervescent fingertips._

            Mush merely glanced at him, then spoke languidly, dully into the air, as lazy as the smoke curling from Kid Blink's lit, but not smoked, cigarette. "Spot," Mush said cruelly, his eyes lilting toward heaven as he considered the boys' plea to let him go 'persuade,' and not 'harm', a girl. "D'ya remembeh what happened in 1913?"

            Spot groaned, recalling the moment when, under the same pretenses, he'd almost broken Mush's hold on him, and had gotten nearly out of his own control. He'd almost drank the blood of an innocent, half-unaware of what he was doing. Luckily, Kid Blink had happened upon him just in time, and had led Spot, in a mumbling trance, away. It had been practically unexplainable, and Mush rarely let Spot out of his sight now. Spot, of course, hated this with a passion. Ten years of constant surveillance had a way or wearing thin on the stubborn boy's spirits.

            A lounge singer stepped out onto the makeshift stage. Mush had to squirm around in his seat to see around three girls sitting at the table in front of them, who were wearing dresses of dark blues and black and chattering excitedly. Their hair had all been bobbed, and looked virtually the same, although in different hues of brown and brownish-red. He smiled vaguely to himself. _Ah, the individuality of the 20s, he grinned inwardly. Then he again tried to catch a glimpse of the singer. Finally she came into view, wearing a fantastically decorated flapper dress and high heels. Applause was ringing out from all corners of the room, and she nodded her appreciation to the exuberant crowd. They loved her, and she loved them, too. With a shake of her shiny, lemon-colored hair, the band struck up a jolting little ditty. As the stylish, stylized singer strutted around the stage, honey words dripping from her satin lips, Jack kept a perfect pace with his dramatically redheaded partner. It was an abnormality, even Jack noted, for him to stay with any one girl past one song. After all, he couldn't exactly become attached. Yet this girl was just… different. The rhythm God had put in her exactly matched his, and as they seamlessly glided from step to step in unison, it seemed to those surrounding them that they'd been practicing for years. No one would believe they'd never met before this night._

            She _did look familiar to Jack, though he couldn't figure out why. Neither her first nor family name jogged his memory, so he ignored the feeling, settling instead for the sweet fragrance of her sweat as she danced closer to him. They fell back into perfect syncopation, with their arms moving high in the air simultaneously, and their legs kicking up and backwards in a manner to bring a grimace to the faces of the less-bodied. The girl wore a long string of pearls, which swung heavily in time to the music. Giggling, she pulled his face closer to her able body, and he silkily kissed her collarbone. She kissed his forehead in elation, in a mixture of high spirits and high music. Stepping away from him for a moment, she gave him an insinuating smile. She began slowly moving from foot to foot, the shimmy crescendoing and running up her entire body. The eight strategically placed rows of fringe shook with her body, and Jack's face burst into a full grin at the sight._

            "By jingo!" Racetrack exclaimed. He had taken up the effort of picking up key phrases of the times they were in. It was rather handy that he did so; many of the terms acceptable in 1899 were out of use currently. "Jack's still wit' dat broad?" he questioned, more lazily after his lingo outburst, as he joined the table. He was exhausted by his and Misprint's exuberant excursions thus far.

            "Wheah's Mis?" Mush replied, ignoring Racetrack's obvious question.

            "Oveh dere," Race answered, vaguely waving his arms to the other side of the room, then turning back to Jack and the girl again. "Why does dat goil look so familiah?"

            "Maybe Jack's danced wit' 'er befoah," Blink answered slowly.

            "Or maybe she's da daughtah a' one a' ours frien's from da olden times or somethin'," Race suggested.

            "Humph," Spot sniffed. "Well, whoeva she is, she should _not weah yella wit' dat red hair a' hers." The other boys gave him skeptical looks, as if suddenly doubting his manhood. "What?" he yelled indignantly. "She shouldn'!"_

            "Hey, Mush, use dat t'ought-speak a' yers an' call oveh Jack. Tell 'im ta bring da dame," Blink suggested. "We'll see if we's kin figger out who it is."

            Mush shrugged, and did just that. Jack looked a bit unhappy as he pulled the girl away from the dancing throng and toward the back of the room, where his friends sat, but Mush figured he'd get over it soon enough.

            "Guys, dis is Mary," Jack said lightly, touching the elbow of the redheaded girl, who smiled prettily at them.

            "Ya know, you look really familiah," Racetrack told her, tilting his head.

            "Ta you, too?" she asked, looking a bit surprised while at the same time preoccupied, since Jack was kissing her neck in sweet, fluttering kisses, like the wings of angels' beating carelessly against her soft skin. "Jack said da same t'ing oileh."

            Misprint came dancing up to the table, swinging her legs carelessly about her. She had started over with a full glass of Coca-Cola, but it had sloshed out as she completed her prancing routine across the floor to the table, and now she was left with less than a quarter of a glass. She fell down onto Racetrack's lap with a bit of a giggle, and then held the remains of her drink to her lips as if about to drink it. Not needing normal human food or even drink, it wasn't even possible that she would drink it, but she thought it looked very elegant to sip daintily from the glasses.

            "Mis, d'ya recognize Mary heah?" Race asked sweetly, rubbing her shoulders.

            Misprint looked over the rim of the thick cup appraisingly, and threw her glass of soda at Jack in surprise. Her mouth gaped open gracefully. "GEMINI?" she asked incredulously. "Is dat you?"

            The girl looked politely bewildered. "Uh…"

            But Misprint was babbling by now, as Jack tried to tactfully blot the light green material of his suit. "A' course you're Gemini!" she said, jumping up and grabbing ahold of the girl's thin arm. "Ya _mus' be! But how is it possible? Ya died like twenny yeahs ago…"_

            The girl now seemed to be studying Misprint. "But… how did ya know…"

            "Know what?" Misprint asked, still looking extremely excited.

            "Dat I'm gonna call myself Gemini. When I become a Broadway actress. I mean, who ever heard of a deliciously rapturous beauty named after a virgin mother?" she hurriedly explained to the boys. She turned back to Misprint. "I on'y decided las' week ta call meself dat," she murmured. "How da _hell didja know?"_

            "Be_cause!" Misprint answered, a charming smile crossing her features. "We'se used ta be great friends, Gem!"_

            It was indeed Gemini. The name had jogged the boys' memories. While none of them had been particularly close to the newsgirls, who preferred to stay away from newsies, it was never hard to recognize one of them. (The exception of the straying newsgirl had of course been Misprint, who had, on the contrary, made positively sure that every single newsboy knew her name, where her lodging house was, and could point out her four best friends.) However, they were less sure of how they could explain to her just _what Misprint meant by "we'se used ta be great friends," and even less sure of how to tell her that she had lived with them in a previous life until burning to death._

            Luckily, Mush got an idea. He turned to her and said calmly, "We's gonna show ya somet'in. It's gonna look weihd, an' you's gonna be skeered a liddle. But don' woirry. Dere's a reason we found ya tanight… maybe it's so you's can join us."

            Misprint clapped her hands. "Oh, Mush, kin we really?" she squealed.

            Mush smiled. He then put into use a power he'd discovered in 1904, that he could slow time down. "Ev'rybody, touch da table," he commanded. Everybody did so, Gemini still looking about a bit uneasily. Then Mush focused on his mission, and time slowed for everyone but those touching the tabletop.

            The dancing couples on the floor were strangely and grotesquely contorted, looking the part more so in time so slow it seemed almost to stop. This would give Mush and the others the chance to explain their vampiricism without alerting any overhearing ears. Gemini looked about her in amazement and awe. "Wow," she breathed. "How'dja do that?"

            Mush sent a silent thought to everyone but Gemini, and slowly, one by one, around the table, they bared their fangs at her. Now she looked as though she was quite sure she had gone crazy at some point during the night. She mouthed the word "vampires," but no sound actually escaped.

            Mush stood and walked over to her, taking her hand. She flinched a bit at his touch, but only stared up at him, apparently in too much shock and fear to move away. He began to tell her how they existed, and explained their lives previously, hers included. He couldn't be sure that she was actually understanding all that he was telling her, and so he made his voice go into her head. She watched him, with his lips unmoving, and only the passion in his eyes revealing that he was the one conveying the thoughts to her. Her eyes were impossibly wide.

            "Yer tellin' da truth," she whispered.

            "'Fraid so," he answered, out loud.

            Then Jack stepped forward, and put his arms lightly upon her waist. He sucked gently at her neck for a moment, then whispered into her ear  that it would only hurt for a bit. She nodded, looking deeply into his eyes and showing him that she truly trusted him, even though she wasn't quite sure why she did. Her arms went around his chest and her hands clenched together on his back. He lowered his head and bit into her flesh. Her hands unclasped and instead seized at his back; he could feel the frigid quality her muscles took over, and she whimpered softly. A drop of blood escaped and stained the thin strap of her yellow dress. Jack finished drinking, and then looked at Mush. Mush nodded, and Jack made a gash in the left side of his own neck, tilting it towards her mouth.

            A few more minutes, and Gemini looked around the room as though in amazement. The corners of her mouth lifted in a smile, and it seemed nearly a sin for such a beautiful girl to have the slivers of fangs nestled among her teeth.

            Spot snorted. "Ain' dis jus' dandy," he snarled. "I'se still don' get ta drink da blood a' no innocent, but Jackie Boy gets ta make vampiahs outta whoeva da hell he wants." Racetrack chuckled in laughter and held up his unlit cigar as if in a toast. Mush too smirked, and Misprint let out an excited sound as she embraced her long-lost friend. Jack took to punching Spot on the shoulder playfully, while Spot scowled, and Kid Blink had taken advantage of the slow pace and singing of the song to begin a contorted dance, almost puppet-like, much to the amusement of his comrades.

            Mush had everyone touch the table again, and sped up the time to normal again.

            Then the slow words of the singer became understandable again, and as Gemini looked about herself at the band of vampires she already felt she knew, the words being sung took on a whole new meaning.

_The wonders of the world are said to stop at seven  
But truth to tell, my figures don't agree  
I number them at eight, with one so close to heaven  
The others pale, their magic stale, just take a look and see_

_Step right up to Treasure Isle  
Ev'ry inch of it, a sky-high mile  
Fairytale land, only in New York  
Hey castle-builder, want the moon, and nothing less?  
Work for years, then overnight success!  
I know first-hand, only in New York_

_Each day it's free admission to those who dream  
You set your sights all the way upstream  
Off you go, for you know that cream will rise_

_Make that wish, seek that thrill  
Come and get it, 'cause you always will  
Strike up the band, only in New York_

_Each day it's free admission to those who dream  
You set your sights all the way upstream  
Off you go, 'cause you know that cream will rise… rise!_

_New, improved and rearranged  
It's ever-changing, yet it's never changed.  
Life on command!  
Hear what I'm saying, oh, but it's grand!  
That's why I'm staying right here as planned  
Only in New York, only in New York  
Only in New York!_


	8. 8

**Shoutouts!**

**Aunt Patty** )( Look, you don't even have to leave a review and you get a shoutout! LOL. Thanks for reading some of my stories and for your comments. :D

**littlewitch1899** )( Hey, let me know if/when you write your newsie-vamp story! I'd love to read it. :D Yay!

**rumor** )( No, Banks is annoying and he wears polo shirts which also annoy me. Hahaha! It's been a long time since I've seen Swing Kids as well. Is it out on DVD yet? That would be a fun one to have. I just watched American Psycho the other day… oh my lord! Jackie Boy, all grown up and running around naked with blood splattered over him while holding a chainsaw in a very strategic place… I couldn't stop laughing. The Discovery Channel is great, at least when they're not having on the scientific things… Oh, I totally love the History Channel. I thought about making the newsies go back to Ancient Rome time because I watched something on the ancient Roman emperors and I think one of them reminded me of Spot or something… that was a while ago. Anyhow. Thanks for the review!! :D

**The Omniscient Bookseller** )( I'm trying to bring back 20s lingo, but it's not working so well yet. And then I kinda forgot about it. But never fear, By jingo! It _will_ come back, or my name isn't Mush's Lovah! **Mush nudges Mondie and shows her her birth certificate** Not now, sweetie-pie! **Mush shrugs and starts coloring on Mondie's birth certificate with a cerulean crayon** You'll find out sometime why Gem was reborn… actually, it's not that hard to figure out, but ah well. Sometimes I'm predictable. That's okay. Cuz other times I'm totally not. **Mondie laughs as she thinks of what's to come in this chapter** :D

**Keza: Queen of Procrastination** )( Yo, Keeeeeeeeeezah! Scream… hehe delightful movie. I perhaps enjoy I Know What You Did Last Summer more, because of Ryan I'm-The-Hottest-Guy-After-Aaron-Lohr-On-The-Planet Phillippe. Mmmmmmm. I love all of my future husbands. Did you ever find out who ate the last brownie? It might've been Mush. I noticed how he left my house at like 9:30 and came stumbling back in at 9:35, panting really hard, with chocolate smeared all over his face. **Mush pretends to be innocent and shrugs nonchalantly, as if he doesn't know WHAT Mondie is talking about** You, Miss Keeeeeeeeeeeezles, are gonna LOVE this chapter. Maybe. Yes, you will. I say so. :D My dad gets mad when I'm on the compie late at night too. He's grounded me for it before. **Mondie rolls eyes** Yes, I really do things OTHER than check my email and scrounge around ff.net. Please. I have no life! LOL! It's okay, Pie can teach you French. Yeah, there is much French in this story, and not for any reason other than I don't know any language but English and Spanish. Pie is French. Chalereux was French. Haha I'm sensing a theme. You'll find out soon what's gonna happen when they stop wandering around… I'm actually not really sure. Hmmm.

**Falco Conlon** )( Oh, Spot has big fashion plans, let me assure you. Broadway's making sure of it. LOL! She calls me and tells me exactly what he's going to wear in certain time eras. I find it funny. I wrote a story with you and Keeeeeeeeeeeeeezah in it, but my compie froze and then ate it up. I was angry. I don't know if it will get re-written or not. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But thank you for the review! :D

**Ali **)( Don't worry, Misprint's all right with her Raceytracky. LOL! Your "Spot's got eternal Peter Pan syndrome!" CRACKED ME UP! I nearly fell over laughing so hard. Then I started imagining him flying around wearing green tights and talking to a little light and it made me giggle hysterically for nearly an entire day. I'd just imagine him suspended to the ceiling with a slingshot hanging out of his tights and… hahahahahahahahahaha! **Mondie falls over laughing** Still makes me chuckle. Thank you very much for the reviews, Ali!!!!! :D

**Pegasus** )( Hey, goilie! Where ya been??? Thanks so much! I know, I'm in love with the idea of newsies in the 20s as well… somehow, it fits, even though it really shouldn't. LOL! :D Miss you!

**Shade of Temair** )( I wasn't aware that broom closets had so much room in them! LOL you cracketh me-eth upeth Shaders! :D :D :D Did you know that erm I have nothing to say here? Interesting huh? Thought so. Thanks for the review, luffle you!

**asp** )( I've seen the _movie_ Thoroughly Modern Millie, with Julie Andrews… I haven't seen the play. I've never been to New York or anywhere CLOSE to Broadway, so there ya go. I wish I could. I want to see Hairspray, the Producers, RENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and WOW so many more… The Lion King would be sweet… ah well, I've got plenty of time when I'm older and can drag my husband to plays he doesn't want to see. LOL! Thanks for the review! :D

**Atlantic** )( Wow, thanks a lot! That's really sweet of you. Yeah, I'll be updating! I've got some obscure plans for this story. The newsie-vamps have yet to get in incredibly difficult trouble! Hahahaha! Thanks for the review! :D

**Broadway** )( Don't worry, you're still Broadway. LOL you crack me up. And don't worry, I'll get Spot to dance the Robot. Just you wait. I have big plans for you and Mr. Conlon. Really. **Mondie cackles a bit and tapdances around in her slippers** Yeeeee-haw! Hey, is the bball game rescheduled for tonight? I hope not. I don't wanna go. Sick. LOL thanks for the review hun! :D

**Gemini Kelly** )( LOL thanks! I wonder how many exclamation points ya stuck in that there review… quite a few! This is a quiet chapter for you at least, you're mentioned only once I believe, but I haven't written a Mushy chapter in a while and I WANTED TO. So there. Hahahahahaha! Thanks for the review, and I think in the next chapter we're gonna have some focusingage on you/Jackage and Mis/Raceage. It should be fun. Thanks Gem! :D

**misprint** )( That is a really strange story. But thank you for not dying after I told you not to in that review I left you. Phew. I wouldn't want your death on my conscience. LOLOLOL! I'M NOT PATRICK BATEMAN, I *DO* HAVE A CONSCIENCE! I just watched American Psycho the other day. It made me giggle incessantly. Kimi and I spent much of the movie when I watched it with her trying to figure out just WHAT was wrong with his face. Cuz in the interview section of the DVD, he looks normal and Christian-Bale-ish, but in the actual movie he looks quite strange. We figured out it's that his cheeks are too skinny, his lips are weird, and his eyebrows go up in a strange manner. LOL! I'm glad my story made you and Shade argue about whether redheads should wear yellow. I don't actually have an opinion on it, it was just something funny to show Spot's current immaturity. Hahaha! I used to be in show choir (before the choir director switched it to some horrible elite "vocal jazz ensemble") and we did the Charleston a few times… hehehe! I wish I lived in the time where organized dances (and NOT the Macarena and the Funky Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide) were way cool. Like in the Bandstand times. I **love love love love love** the show American Dreams on NBC (do you get NBC in Canada?) and on the next new episode they're gonna have the Beatles on! AHHH! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!! Heh… never mind. Yes, guidance counselors are SO annoying. I'm glad that I won't have to put up with anything anymore. LOL! I just wish I had MONEY for college. Well, this SO is quite long, so I'm gonna leave ya now. Thanks Misi! I heart you! :D

**brittany** )( Hey, thanks! :D You're too kind. LoL!

**Hottie5Star** )( I love the 20s too! Total irresponsibility, freedom, not really caring what's going on anywhere because times are so good you don't HAVE to care! Big parties, beautiful outfits, fake smiles, and the gangly youth of an era that has no boundaries. How truly wonderful!!!!!! Wow, you're a great reviewer! Thanks for all your comments and such thus far. :D

**Lisa** )( Wow! Thanks so much! That's really so cool of you to do! :D I haven't done that in a while, taken a story and read the thing through many chapters. Kudos! :D

NDBT Chapter 8

Autumn, 1928

          Mush stared with nothing but pure hatred in his eyes. The man standing directly in front of him blinked courageously, though his trembling hands betrayed his seemingly tough demeanor. "But what… what are you?" the man asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously to slits. He shuffled a few steps back, and when Mush said nothing in return, the man tried to communicate again. "What do you want?" His voice cracked, and he continued marching backwards, even though Mush wasn't stepping any closer. He ran into the rough bricks of the building behind him and looked about, panicked. No one was near. The hot midday sun of the fading summer had kept all of the wealthy aristocrats to live in this neighborhood well within their rooms. He and Mush were alone.

          "I think you know," Mush answered, his accent softened noticeably by the passing time. Quick as light, he was at the man's throat. "I think you know full well, Mr. Stimmon."

          Mr. Stimmon let out a squeak that seemed to echo off the walls of the alley. "But what do you want with me?" he managed to choke, the sweat dripping off his face and staining his starched collar.

          "I watched you," Mush hissed, his eyes dangerously wide. "You killed that family in Queens two days ago. Three little girls, one baby boy, and their two parents. You thought that they were wealthy… but they weren't. Angered that the father had already _lost his money, you killed them all. I must admit that you are slyer than the average criminal. __I couldn't even catch up to you. You escaped my prowess. But not today."_

          "I—I had to do it, you know!" Mr. Stimmon said, trembling. "I have a family too! _Five kids, and my wife's pregnant right now!"_

          "Liar," hissed Mush, his breath striking against Mr. Stimmon's throat.

          Mr. Stimmon tried to back away further. "I just lost my job, mister. How am I supposed to feed my kids?"

          Mush grabbed the lapel of his suit jacket and stepped backwards, before lurching forwards and slamming Mr. Stimmon against the wall so forcefully that his skull cracked. "You have no family. You once did, I can see that," he pondered, his thoughts probing the throbbing mind of his injured companion. "But… oh, how did this escape me? _You killed them, too." Mush let out a screaming howl and plunged his fangs deep within the fleshy throat of the dying man._

          After Mr. Stimmon had been left lying, a mere shell of a corpse, Mush walked calmly out of the alley. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, pleased to see that he hadn't gotten blood all over himself. The vile taste of the murderer coursed through his body, and he couldn't help but give a shudder.

          The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, next to the climax of finally cornering his latest murderer. He wandered from shop to shop, nodding politely as the owners showed him their newest and grandest acquirements yet. He purchased a few antique items around four in the afternoon, a hobby he'd only recently picked up. He knew that, with time, the antiques would pay themselves off. After he'd finished with this, he took them back to the apartment he held for his daytime purposes, and then walked to Central Park, trying his best to look like he fit in. It was always hardest to become "normal" on these hot days, because everyone he passed on the street had a beet-red face and was sweating extensively. His pale visage never took on the color of strawberries; he also never had a drop of perspiration grace his pure skin.

          In Central Park, he picked a bench and sat upon it. His straight posture would have risen eyebrows in his rightful time period, particularly among his friends. Yet in _this time, he could be whomever he wanted. He could pretend to be rich, pretend to be poor, pretend to be famous, pretend he wasn't even a vampire. The 20s were incredible._

          With time, the sun finally began to set. Relieved of his boredom, Mush walked quickly to the dark little apartment on the West Side of Manhattan where his vampire friends were still fast asleep. They always awoke quickly after their sleep, but he did not feel any need to delay their feasting tonight. Generally he waited for them to find him; he was _never hard to find. Tonight, something was different. There was a wild tone in the breeze._

          The boys all got dressed in their finest suits, colored much like a pastel embodiment of springtime. Spot was scowling as he emerged in his light blue, because he hated the formality of the suits. He wouldn't be with everyone the whole night. Within the last year, he'd taken to giving them the slip more often and going off to roam by himself. Every now and then, Mush would get an urgent request in his mind, from Spot, asking if he could make a vampire of this person or that person, but Mush never granted him permission. Spot hated this thoroughly.

          Misprint and Gemini got all fancied up as well, in their short skirts that rose above their knees and heeled slippers. Wordlessly, Mush led them to a nearby bar. He ignored the protests of the bartender, sent him calming messages inside his mind—_Stay calm. Let us pass. We are good.—and opened a back door. Propped up inside it, hardly alive, were enough bandits for each of the vampire gang to have two. Their crimes were crudely marked in ink upon their bare stomachs. Mush always loved for their sins to be displayed to everyone, even – especially – when they were discovered, dead, perhaps the next morning._

          The sight of the filth angering him, Mush walked back up to the room with the bar, leaving his minions and the two girls to feed. He sat down upon a bar stool and refused the drinks that the bartender wanted to give him.

          "Hey. Do you have any money?" The voice sounded apologetic enough for Mush to turn and look at the figure beside him. "Because I've lost all of mine. Along with _so much more…" His voice changed drastically with the last three spoken words, and his eyes narrowed and bore straight into Mush's soul._

          Mush gave a start when he looked into the man's eyes. He could feel the blood of the murderer from noon, now stampeding through his veins, disturbed. The blood _itself was agitated. He jumped back as his bar stool fell over from beneath him. "Impossible," he stuttered. "But you're—"_

          "Your worst nightmare." The man gave a large grin, his smile grotesquely inhuman with its missing teeth. "Whaddya say, …Mush…?"

          Mush didn't bother to find why the man knew his name, and he rushed to the back room. He herded his friends outside, Racetrack complaining darkly and with harsh words. He always hated being interrupted when there was feeding he could be doing. Mush nudged them all into a spirited run, and soon they were outstripping the raspy wind of autumn nights.

          Feeling quite frenzied, Mush sent out his thoughts to the man, reaching for any wisp of knowledge or insight. The thoughts were waiting for him. _I don't want the others. Only you, Mush._

          Mush swallowed thickly, then ducked down a different alley than his friends. He was faster than they were, anyway. He turned another corner, the streetlights having the effect of a single firefly as he raced past the short beams of light.

          And there the man stood. Waiting.

          His hair was on the long side, a deep color which was either black or very, very dark brown. The frame of his body was well shaped and defined, and he was taller than Mush. He wore a plain black suit with a flowing crimson velvet cape. His violet eyes, burning even at this distance, were what had stuck Mush as abnormal, and they shone through the night even now.

          "Do you know who I am?" the voice of the man called mockingly, a smirk coming over his slight pink lips. "I know that you know _what I am."_

          Mush shook his head wordlessly, in disbelief. He and his vampires had been roaming New York City for nearly thirty years, and not once—_once—had the group found evidence of other vampires. The eyes couldn't lie, however. Vampire eyes held a prism, a kaleidoscope of brilliancy and reverberating beauty. This man, somehow, had gotten them. But if that were so, he'd have to be a vampire as well._

          "What a shame," the vampire said, stalking closer. He walked as though upon a line, carefully stepping heel-to-toe. He stopped in front of Mush. "Perhaps I can jog your memory… _mon frere."_

          The face of the vampire changed, years were stripped away, stage by stage. Mush was fascinated in spite of himself. Finally, enough time had gone by, and he knew who the man was.

          "Pie Eater?" he asked softly, staring at the youthful, transfigured face upon the older body. It was a bit intoxicating, yet distracting and insufferable at the instant of decision.

          With a snap, the devastating, older face of the vampire was back. "Of course it's me," Pie Eater answered. His eyebrows alone trembled as though with a secret. "It was always me. I always knew what I had to become. You weren't the first to meet Chalereux, Mush. _I was the one to teach her English, translating her French. __I was the one who told her who you were, __I led her to you. I just knew that I would soon be a vampire, as irresistible as she was, when you created your minions. And yet, surprisingly enough, I awoke the next morning to find the four of you gone. And I was still human. Human! Mortal, flesh and blood!_

          "I moved to Chicago. Chicago is teeming with vampires, and yet it was still quite some time before I could convince anyone to make me one of them."

          "What do you mean, 'Chicago is teeming with vampires'? We haven't met any here in New York," Mush protested, feeling more than a little foolish to admit such a fiasco to this vampire, made after himself, and yet seeming to be so much more knowledgeable on the subject of what they _were._

          "That's because they're keeping their distance. You, Mush, you will be our king! You alone are held in high reverence. But there is much distrust of your chosen minions in our vampire community. Not only do our kind not want to get on your bad side, but there is one among your chosen who is greatly feared as well. He stays loyal to you, but he is breaking loose. He has created the weak vampires who run through the cities, perhaps for a week, before dying. He's been doing so without your permission. And if he can rise above your mandate, how could mere vampires like _us hope to hold our own against him? Fear of the two of you has kept New York City dry of all other vampires." Pie Eater stopped and stared at Mush, as though this should have been obvious._

          "What do you want me to do?" Mush cried.

          Pie Eater raised his eyebrows. "You have to bring the control back over your minion."

          "But who is it?" Mush asked desperately. He was starting to second-guess the entirety of his being crowned the king of all of these beings who remained anonymous and invisible to him. For the first time since he drank Chalereux's blood, he felt weak and small.

          "You already know."

          Mush nodded. "But… but how will I do it? _When can I possibly do it?" He began pacing, his face twisted in a sneer, disbelief that one of _his minions_…_

          Pie Eater grinned, but it was a jack-o-lantern of a real smile. "No day but today, Mush. No day but today."


End file.
